Kazakhstan reveals how much it spent on the fight against COVID

According to Ms. Azhar Giniyat, health minister in Kazakhstan, the country spent about $2 billion over 2020-2021.

In 2020, the government allocated $586 million for the fight against COVID. About $458 million was spent on additional payments to health workers, and $65 million was spent on acquiring drugs and personal protective equipment. Those medical workers who helped people during the pandemic received $46.5 million in payments in total. An additional $11.6 million was spent on ventilators.

In 2021, Kazakhstan allocated about $1.3 billion in an effort to stop the COVID from spreading. The largest part of this money, $961.2 million, was paid to health workers directly; $225.7 million was allocated for vaccines, syringes and diagnosis of COVID-19. About $93.1 million more was transferred to hospitals to reimburse their costs.

In 2022, the country’s government allocated $200 million for that purpose: $46.5 million was spent to purchase Pfizer’s vaccines while for VeroCell and QazVac the government paid about $20.9 million.

Also, Giniyat said that Kazakhstan doesn’t plan to impose a new lockdown or require people to wear face masks.