Kazakhstan suspends talks on buying AstraZeneca vaccine

By Meiramgul Kussainova

NUR SULTAN, Kazakhstan (AA) – Kazakhstan on Wednesday suspended talks to procure the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine due to reports about its side effects, according to a health ministry official.

Nurlybek Assylbekov, deputy chairman of the Medical and Pharmaceutical Control of the Health Ministry, told reporters that the country had been in talks with AstraZeneca to buy the vaccine.

“However, as we all know, many countries have stopped using the vaccine in question. In order to be cautious, we are not currently interested in the supply of the vaccine to the country,” he said.

Over the past week, several European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway, suspended the use of AstraZeneca jab after blood clots were reported in some vaccinated people.

*Writing by Sena Guler