COVID-19 vaccination progress in Kazakhstan

The epidemiological situation in Kazakhstan remains stable. Over the past month, the coronavirus infection rate in the country has decreased by 1.7 times. In addition, the number of patients in inpatient care has decreased more than twofold. Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Yeraly Tugzhanov announced this at a special press briefing. This positive effect has been achieved due to the mass vaccination drive organized in the country, he added. However, Tugzhanov signaled the threat of a rise of the incidence rate in the country due to the new cases of the Indian strain of coronavirus recently detected in Nur-Sultan.

“This COVID-19 strain is more dangerous. It causes a higher probability of hospitalization and fatalities. It’s also 60 percent more contagious than other  coronavirus variants. On average, five to six people can get infected from one person. There is an easy way to protect yourself, or at least minimize the risk of the infection. Of course, I’m talking about getting vaccinated against the coronavirus. There is no other different method. Currently, the country’s medical facilities have a sufficient supply of vaccines. Since February of this year, about seven million doses have been delivered to the country. To date, Kazakhstan has administered 4.6 million vaccine jabs. Of these, 2.8 million vaccine doses were administered as the first dose, which accounts for 28 percent of the eligible population, and 1.7 million vaccine doses given as second dose,” said Yeraly Tugzhanov, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister.

There are no prerequisites for the introduction of lockdown due to the Indian variant imported into Kazakhstan, Tugzhanov said. There were only restrictive measures introduced to prevent the spread of infection, he added.

Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova

Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova