Ukraine (AP) — A small spa town in western Ukraine is standing out in a European country where only 29% of the people have received COVID-19 vaccine shots and locals credit their community spirit for fending off the worst of the pandemic a scenic town nestled at the Carpathian foothills in the Lviv region 74% of its 3,439 residents had been fully vaccinated as of late November While Ukrainian authorities have imposed new restrictions amid a surge of infections and deaths blamed on a slow pace of vaccination and designated the region around Morshyn as a “red zone” where most public places have been shut down the wellness centers in Morshyn have remained fully open Morshyn’s mineral water has made it a European attraction since the 19th century when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Over 2,800 of its residents are currently employed by 10 different spas which only accept guests with certificates proving vaccination recovery from a past COVID-19 illness or a negative test “I was making plans to travel somewhere this year and I chose Morshyn when I learned that many people here were vaccinated,” said Valentyna Panchuk broad-based approach seems to be going a long way in protecting the residents of Morshyn Locals have embraced a host of public health measures that have proven effective against the spread of the disease: they wear masks observe social distancing and vaccine uptake is high The town’s low density also helps too — with houses spread out amid parks and squares All these factors work toward the goal of keeping the town humming and people working there have been no gravely ill coronavirus patients there anymore,” said Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko “There was a report about just one hospitalization which hasn’t seen any COVID-19 deaths over the past six months has been touted by Ukrainian officials as a model for the rest of the country Four coronavirus vaccines are available in Ukraine — Pfizer-BioNTech AstraZeneca and Sinovac — but only 29% of its 41 million people are fully vaccinated The Ministry of Health reports that 96% of patients with severe COVID-19 weren’t immunized Doctors blame the public hesitancy in Ukraine on a distrust of government and on vaccine falsehoods about shots containing microchips or causing infertility They say residents in Morshyn do get infected with COVID-19 but those who are vaccinated have mild cases that don’t require hospitalization “Not just immunization of two-thirds of the population but long distances allow people to not get infected,” said Dr the (infected) person voluntarily self-isolates understanding the responsibility to other residents.” there were 14 active COVID-19 cases in Morshyn as of late November The Ukrainian government has required teachers government employees and other workers to be fully vaccinated by Dec It has also begun to require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for travel on planes The decision has sparked protests in the Ukrainian capital where thousands have rallied to protest the restrictions the mass vaccinations have saved its residents from potentially losing their jobs amid the autumn surge of new infections Morshyn Mayor Ruslan Ilnytsky was among the first to get a vaccine He said during a nationwide lockdown in the spring the town sustained a heavy economic blow when all of its spas were shut down He said he realized then that Morshyn would probably not survive another lockdown and spearheaded a vaccination campaign last summer in anticipation of a new surge of infections as cold weather forced people indoors “We initiated a pilot project for simultaneous immunization of the entire adult population,” Ilnytsky told The Associated Press personally inviting them to get the vaccine and offering assurances of safety also emphasized the importance of the personalized approach That sharply differs from the rest of Ukraine A nationwide survey conducted last month by the Rating polling firm showed that 43% of respondents don’t want to get vaccinated The poll of 2,500 had a margin of error of no more than 2 percentage points said that fake theories about COVID-19 are posing a growing threat to the country’s collective health during the pandemic “The risks of misinformation about vaccinations have never been higher — nor have the stakes,” Sahin said “This is why in 2021 we need a stronger and more robust effort to address rumors Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser Before Russia launched its senseless and brutal war on Ukraine builder Sergiy Kovalenkov was well into a mission to bring environmentally friendly healthy hempcrete living spaces to Ukrainian citizens With the war destroying homes in many parts of the country Kovalenkov now finds that mission heightened as more and more Ukrainians are displaced The bombs haven’t stopped Kovalenkov, who has launched “Hemp. Ukraine. Recover.” a non-profit fund aimed at providing sustainable hemp housing solutions and psychological help for citizens and veterans affected by the war The initiative’s centerpiece is a 30-unit apartment complex now going up near Morshyn a small city in the western part of the country specifically for refugee families and orphans The complex is the first of a three-phase project that incorporates the restoration of a former dairy building and new construction “A lot of the projects we had planned were stopped and clients fled the country,” said Kovalenkov the founder and CEO of construction company Hempire UA which started building hemp houses in Ukraine in 2015 “There is a huge hit to the economy since millions of citizens are leaving with their savings.” Recover.” has turned to crowdfunding to support the Morshyn development where hempcrete is going up around a wooden frame for a structure designed by architect Roman Pomazan Hurd sourced from Ukrainian farms is being mixed with a locally developed binder to go into the walls of the complex Some refugees who “lost everything” are building their own homes as “Hemp Recover.” educates them on hempcrete construction onsite gaining skills that will be valuable in a post-war rebuilding scenario – based on hemp Kovalenkov said while construction continues even during the winter months Recover.” is concentrating now on lining up supply sources to speed up building in spring while expanding its fundraising and media activities “It’s hard to do very much building in winter time especially as the temperatures drop and power outages last for many hours due to the rocket attacks,” Kovalenkov said “But we’re getting the buildings enclosed.” raw materials have been sourced within a radius of 1,000 kilometers of the Morshyn construction site But Kovalenkov said turmoil caused by the war means fewer farmers put in hemp this past spring so basic hemp materials could be hard to come by next year While it’s feasible to import hurd into Ukraine with transport costs having quadrupled since the war started power disruptions and fuel shortages caused by the war contribute to the challenges After starting crowdfunding earlier this month Recover.” has raised $51,000 of a total $362,000 needed to complete the 30 housing units phase one of a three-phase project that also envisions additional housing and a rehabilitation center for war veterans in a projected estimated to cost an additional $1,000,000 “We’ll be inviting veterans from other countries to assist us on the construction of his project and share PTSD recovery experience with thousands of our veterans who will also be involved in hemp construction,” Kovalenkov said Kovalenkov was also among a group of cannabis advocates that recently drafted a law to legalize medical cannabis in Ukraine “So we’re also asking foreign companies to donate their medicinal hemp products to help Ukrainian soldiers and victims of war suffering from PTSD,” he said