War in the Time of COVID-19 Crisis: A Public Health Emergency in Ukraine

A pandemic has ravaged the world. Now, a war has generated a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, the Russian military invaded Ukraine unprovoked and unwarranted. As of writing this letter, Russian troops have edged closer to the Capital city; seized control of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant and attacked the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (the largest nuclear plant in Europe); and killed large numbers of Ukrainian civilians, including children and women -all in violation of International Law. The actual number could be much higher. Moreover, 85 children have been killed and more than 100 have been injured due to the invasion, as reported by the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine. According to the UN, another 2.8 million citizens, mostly women and children, have fled the country to neighboring Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, and the number of internally displaced individuals continues to rise. 2, hile the war threatens the sovereignty of Ukraine, the spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has intensified the disaster response and increased unwarranted morbidity and mortality. According to a World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland) report, there were 791,021 new cases of COVID-19 and 8,012 fatalities in the region surrounding Ukraine from March 3 through March 9, 2022, with 25,000 new daily cases reported in Ukraine alone. Although case counts are now declining, case counts may spike once again due to the country's low vaccination rates. A similar situation was observed during the first year of the pandemic during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, followed by massive COVID-19 surges in both countries. Only 34% of people in Ukraine have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and less than two percent have received a third dose. 7 Such low vaccination rates are insufficient to keep highly contagious viruses like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) under control. urther, low vaccination rates in Ukraine are likely to increase COVID-19 infections in neighboring countries as millions of Ukrainians flee to those countries. Neighboring countries like Poland have ensured free COVID-19 testing and vaccination for Ukrainian refugees. The political and social upheaval that comes with war makes it more likely that new strains of the virus could emerge, putting the world at risk. Accelerating vaccinations and adopting public health measures like mask use, social distancing, and hygiene practices are essential to halting the spread of infection. Still, these measures are impossible to enforce when a country is under seizing.