The claim: Ukraine’s wartime emergency payment depends on a citizen’s COVID-19 vaccination status
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskky recently announced a special assistance program in which civilians who have lost the opportunity to work due to the russian invasion You can receive a one-time payment from the government.
But online, some people are claiming that Ukrainians need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to qualify.
“The Ukrainian government announces emergency payments to those affected by the war. But only if he is (vaccinated) and only through the digital system”, says a Facebook post from March 22.
The post racked up more than 300 interactions in over a week. Accompanying the text is a video of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal delivering a speech.
Other Facebook users shared a screenshot of a TikTok video from March 11 which features a clip of Shmyhal’s comments with the text, “Are you starting to connect the dots yet?” Similar versions of the claim circulated throughout March on platforms like Twitter, female dog and Telegram.
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However, the publications misrepresent Shmyhal’s announcement about the aid plan. There is no COVID-19 vaccine requirement to qualify for payment, as independent fact-checking organizations have reported.
USA TODAY reached out to social media users who shared the post for comment.
No COVID-19 vaccine requirement
the full text of the resolution behind the aid plan does not refer to vaccines. And Shmyhal did not say during his speech that a COVID-19 vaccine would be required to collect payment.
“The program will work by analogy with vaccination payments, that is, with the help of the Diia app,” Shmyhal said on March 6, according to an English interpretation of his comments. uploaded to youtube by UATV, a Ukrainian news agency.
the diia government app Shymhal referenced allows citizens to upload identification documents or a vaccination passport. Before the Russian invasion, the app was used to distribute payments to people who received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Google translation of a December 2021 press release.
But that is not the only function of the application.
Users you can also donate to the Ukrainian army through Diia. Shymhal mentioned vaccination payments to explain how payments would be similarly distributed during the war through the eSupport program, an initiative released by Zelenskyy to increase Ukraine’s vaccination rates.
There is no mention of a vaccine requirement. in instructions of Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on how to receive assistance. The ministry’s website notes that citizens who have already collected a financial incentive for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine are still eligible for the war pay.
Fact check: No connection between Ukrainian app and World Economic Forum’s ‘Great Reset’
In a Facebook comment on March 14, Diia’s page replied to a user clarifying that proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is not a necessary condition to collect payment. Half-Ukrainian Segodnya He also reported that citizens can request payment “regardless of the level of their vaccination,” according to a google translation.
by Zelenskiy March 3 announcement about the aid program states that all Ukrainian citizens affected by the Russian invasion qualify for the payment and that there are no conditions.
“Each employee, each sole proprietor, each citizen of Ukraine, from whom Russia took away the opportunity to work, will receive 6,500 hryvnias without any conditions,” he said in the statement, according to a google translation.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate as FALSE the claim that Ukraine’s wartime emergency payment depends on a citizen’s COVID-19 vaccination status. Reports and announcements from the Ukrainian government indicate that all war-affected Ukrainians are eligible for the payment and there is no mention of a vaccination mandate. Shmyhal said the war payments program would be similar to Ukraine’s previous COVID-19 vaccine incentive initiative, but did not say a vaccine is required to qualify for the relief.
Our data verification sources:
- Agence France-Presse, April 3, Posts Share False ‘Vaccination Requirement’ Claim About Ukraine’s War Relief Fund
- Reuters, March 14, Fact Check-Wartime one-time payment to unemployed Ukrainians is not based on COVID-19 vaccine status
- Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, March 4, Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
- UATV English via YouTube, March 6 Ukraine’s cabinet announces transition to wartime economy, one-time payments to those who lost their jobs
- USA TODAY, March 31, Fact Check: No Connection Between Ukrainian App And World Economic Forum’s ‘Great Reset’
- The Kyiv Independent, March 21, Ukrainians raise $5.6 million for the military through Diia app
- Associated Press, November 16, 2021, Ukraine offers payments for COVID injections amid record deaths
- Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, December 19, 2021, Today the ePidtrymka project was officially launched on the Diia application: how to get 1000 UAH
- Google Translate, retrieved April 5, Translation
- President of Ukraine, January 10, PR instructs the government to develop a program to pay UAH 1,000 to minors vaccinated against COVID-19
- Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, March 8, Starting today, Ukrainians can receive assistance of 6,500 hryvnias within the framework of eSupport
- Day, March 14, facebook comment
- Segodnia, March 8, How to get 6.5 thousand UAH of assistance to Ukrainians – instructions
- Google Translate, retrieved April 5, Translation
- President of Ukraine, March 3, Citizens of Ukraine, from whom Russia took away the opportunity to work, will receive 6,500 UAH – President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky
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Reference-www.usatoday.com