Coronavirus
A $1 million reward has been offered to any scientist who is capable of developing a vaccine for coronavirus.
Scientists in Ukraine have been challenged by President Volodymyr Zelensky to develop a vaccine for coronavirus.
He has promised a $1 million reward to any scientist in the country
that will take up the challenge, his spokeswoman said on Monday.
According to AFP, the ex-Soviet country with a population of around
42 million has confirmed 3,102 cases of COVID-19 and 93 people have
died.
The president “believes a million dollars is a good incentive,” his spokeswoman Yuliya Mendel said in a statement sent to AFP, with the aim being able to develop a vaccine that would “save hundreds of thousands of lives.”
Zelensky “really wants Ukrainian scientists to work more actively towards developing medicines that will help the whole world,” Mendel said.
She added that Zelensky’s request to develop a vaccine against COVID-19 was sent to Ukraine’s Academy of Sciences last month.
On Monday the World Health Organisation highlighted the importance
of developing a COVID-19 vaccine, saying it was needed to fully halt
transmission of the disease which has led to over 100,000 deaths
worldwide since it was first identified in China late last year.
The Ukraine president’s spokeswoman did not make clear how the
million-dollar reward would be financed in a country whose economy has
been drained by a long-running conflict with Russian-backed separatists
and is reliant on international aid.
“So far we are not talking about a specific source for the money,” she said.
Ukraine acted swiftly to close schools, universities and public
spaces to stem the spread of the virus. It has also shut down metro
systems in three cities.
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