Thoracic surgeon Vitaly Sokolov, who heads an infectious diseases department of the Kiev city clinical hospital ? 17, gets ready for his shift treating coronavirus patients, in Kiev on January 14, 2021. - Vitaly Sokolov, a doctor who has been treating critical coronavirus patients in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic, is anxiously waiting to be vaccinated. But his ex-Soviet republic is caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war that is delaying a national vaccine rollout in one of Europe's poorest countries. (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

Thoracic surgeon Vitaly Sokolov, who heads an infectious diseases department of the Kiev city clinical hospital ? 17, speaks with an AFP journalist as he prepares for his shift treating coronavirus patients, in Kiev on January 14, 2021. - Vitaly Sokolov, a doctor who has been treating critical coronavirus patients in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic, is anxiously waiting to be vaccinated. But his ex-Soviet republic is caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war that is delaying a national vaccine rollout in one of Europe's poorest countries. (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

A medical worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) pushes a wheelchair along a hall in front of the entrance to the red zone at an infectious diseases department of the Kiev city clinical hospital ? 17, where patients suffering from the coronavirus disease are treated, in Kiev on January 14, 2021. - Vitaly Sokolov, a doctor who has been treating critical coronavirus patients in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic, is anxiously waiting to be vaccinated. But his ex-Soviet republic is caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war that is delaying a national vaccine rollout in one of Europe's poorest countries. (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

Medical workers get ready for their shifts treating coronavirus patients at an infectious diseases department of the Kiev city clinical hospital ? 17 in Kiev on January 14, 2021. - Vitaly Sokolov, a doctor who has been treating critical coronavirus patients in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic, is anxiously waiting to be vaccinated. But his ex-Soviet republic is caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war that is delaying a national vaccine rollout in one of Europe's poorest countries. (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

Thoracic surgeon Vitaly Sokolov, who heads an infectious diseases department of the Kiev city clinical hospital ? 17, poses as he prepares for his shift treating coronavirus patients, in Kiev on January 14, 2021. - Vitaly Sokolov, a doctor who has been treating critical coronavirus patients in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic, is anxiously waiting to be vaccinated. But his ex-Soviet republic is caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war that is delaying a national vaccine rollout in one of Europe's poorest countries. (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

A medical worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) walks in front of the entrance to the red zone at an infectious diseases department of the Kiev city clinical hospital ? 17, where patients suffering from the coronavirus disease are treated, in Kiev on January 14, 2021. - Vitaly Sokolov, a doctor who has been treating critical coronavirus patients in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic, is anxiously waiting to be vaccinated. But his ex-Soviet republic is caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war that is delaying a national vaccine rollout in one of Europe's poorest countries. (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)