Kyrgyzstan to start using QazVac after expert review

Kyrgyzstan to start using QazVac after expert review

Kyrgyzstan is ready to use the Kazakh-made vaccine QazVac. It will begin to be used right after recommendations from an independent experts committee. 25,000 doses were delivered to the country as humanitarian aid. The Health Ministry is interested in vaccinating Kyrgyz residents with QazVac. According to health workers, it is necessary to vaccinate at least 70 percent of citizens to form herd immunity.

“Our medicines department is reviewing all submitted documents. We have requested the missing documents as well. This vaccine is currently being reviewed by our independent committee of immunization experts. As soon as we get recommendations, we will start vaccinating immediately,” said Gulbara Ishenapysova, Director of the National Center for Immunization.

Among the vaccines delivered to Kyrgyzstan are the Russian-made Sputnik V, the European AstraZeneca and the Chinese Sinofarm. Medicines from Russia and China are used throughout the country. The Chinese vaccine is the most popular and available. You can even get it at the airport upon arrival.

“It is necessary to understand that some areas fall behind the national average rates. We need to strengthen information support for the vaccination campaign. This work on information about vaccination should not stop, since in the emergence of an information vacuum, various fake information with anti-vaccination pattern begins to appear. This undermines the national vaccination campaign,” noted Alymkadyr Beishenaliyev, Kyrgyz Minister of Health and Social Development.

586,000 people have received vaccines in Kyrgyzstan since the beginning of the immunization. This is a quarter of the target group of citizens who must get vaccinated. The most active residents were from the southern regions.

 

Translation by Saniya Sakenova

Editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova