Ukraine's parliament has voted to dismiss Health Minister Maksym Stepanov over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and approved the resignations of the economy and infrastructure ministers.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who initiated Stepanov's firing, told parliament that the minister was responsible for the "unsatisfactory pace of vaccination" against COVID-19 and failures in vaccine procurement.

With more than 2 million registered coronavirus infections and over 48,000 related deaths, Ukraine is among the European countries most affected by the epidemic.

The country is also lagging in its vaccination efforts, with about 950,000 Ukrainians having received their first vaccine dose as of May 18.