Church in Ukraine turns into vaccination center as Covid-19 cases spike

Kiev, Ukraine, Nov 11 (EFE).- A church in Kiev has turned into a vaccination center for Ukranians as the country faces a new coronavirus wave and spike in Covid-19 related deaths.

After the morning mass, priests leave the Greek Orthodox Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ to make way for medical personnel to take over the venue and turn it into the first vaccination center in a church in the county.

In a desperate attempt to encourage Ukrainians to get vaccinated, the ministry of health seeked help from religious institutions to help boost the vaccine drive.

Only some 20% of the Ukrainian population has been vaccinated against severe Covid-19 symptoms.

“We also see a lot of disinformation about Covid and vaccination, that is why when the ministry of health asked if we were willing to open a vaccination centre in our church, our leader, the Patriarch Sviatoslav immediately agreed to it,” father Andriy Bondaruk, head of the press bureau of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, told Efe.

“We do it for the benefit of the whole society,” he added.

MORE DEATHS FROM COVID THAN AT WAR

Ukraine has currently one of the highest levels of Covid mortality in the world.

The ministry reported 24,747 new infections and 652 deaths in the last 24 hours.

President Volodimir Zelenski urged Ukrainians to get vaccinated and compared the pandemic with the war.