Kazakhstan starts using indigenous COVID-19 vaccine

NUR SULTAN, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan started administering its homegrown COVID-19 vaccine.

Health Minister Alexey Tsoy received his first dose of QazVac vaccine in a local outpatient clinic in the capital Nur-Sultan on Monday.

After being inoculated in a live broadcast, Tsoy said he feels good, adding they have started vaccinating the public in various parts of the country.

He said that the first batch of QazVac vaccine – 50,000 doses – was delivered to different cities and regions.

Noting that they are in talks with various production facilities to increase the vaccine production capacity, Tsoy said: "We are also evaluating the fields of our Turkish partners in this regard."

The minister also recalled that his country is one of the five countries in the world that has developed its own vaccine against COVID-19.

The vaccine will be administered in two doses, 21 days apart.

Developed by the Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems of Kazakhstan, the QazVac vaccine can be stored at temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius (35-46 degrees Fahrenheit).

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev