Kazakhstan to apply homegrown COVID vaccine next week

By Meiramgul Kussainova

NUR SULTAN, Kazakhstan (AA) - Kazakhstan will begin to administer its homegrown coronavirus vaccine to residents next week, according to a statement by its Prime Ministry.

The first 50,000 doses of the QazVak vaccine were produced by the Scientific Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems in Kazakhstan's southern Jambyl province, said the statement.

"Kazakhstan became one of the top five countries in the world that developed its own vaccine against the pandemic," said Deputy Prime Minister Yerali Tugjanov.

The vaccine was included in the record of the World Health Organization, Tugjanov said, who added that the complete safety of the vaccine has been proven. The biggest advantage of the inactivated vaccine is that it does not cause vaccine-related diseases.

The next step is to verify the international standard certificate. Kazakhstan will cooperate with Atabay, a Turkish company, to have it verified, he added.

Bottling and packaging of the vaccine will be conducted in a factory in Turkey.

The QazVac vaccine is administered in two stages with an interval of 21 days between shots.