WHO Will Approve Kazakhstan’s Vaccine Soon

QazVac vaccine against COVID-19, which has been developed and produced in Kazakhstan, might be approved by the World Health Organization very soon, reported Khabar 24 TV channel citing Suma Chakrabarti, an external adviser to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

According to the external adviser to the president, the vaccine formulas must be changed every year to ensure there are new vaccines on the market to reach the entire population.

«In my opinion, Kazakhstan’s done an incredible, massive job. How many people have already been vaccinated, eight million? We have to gain momentum in the vaccination and to go further with the issue solving,» Chakrabarti highlighted.

He believes that the WHO will approve QazVac very soon, which is definitely a «good sign for Kazakh national science.»

In his interview with Khabar, Suma Chakrabarti has also shared his thoughts concerning Kazakhstan’s economy after the crisis with COVID. Local businesses will be dependent on the epidemiological situation all the time, he said. 

«As viruses have actively mutated, science becomes more important for economic success,» Chakrabarti added.

However, while developing new reforms, the government has to take into account many factors beyond just the situation with coronavirus. Among these factors, climate change plays a key role because international banks, credit and rating agencies, as well as transnational investors, will weigh different economies and see which one is doing more to address the changing environment.

The Kazakhstani-produced vaccine QazVac is expected to be registered in Switzerland by the end of this year, according to Kunsulu Zakarya, head of the Research Institute of Biological Safety Problems.

QazVac is an inactivated vaccine against COVID-19, which was developed by the institute under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The rate of efficacy QazVac has shown at the very first stage of the development was 100%. At the second phase the rate was 96% and at the third phase 84%.

Moreover, according to Kazakhstan’s health officials, the vaccine has proved as highly effective against the Delta variant.