Kazakhstan's COVID-19 vaccine to be bottled in Turkey

NUR SULTAN, Kazakhstan

Bottling and packaging of Kazakhstan's homegrown coronavirus vaccine will be carried out in a factory in Turkey, Kazakh official said on Friday.

Deputy Prime Minister Yerali Tugjanov told reporters the decision on the QazVac vaccine was made because the construction of the production plant has not yet been finalized in Kazakhstan.

He said that controls of the vaccine's 50% compliance with international standards will be completed on April 21.

"Then, all clinical trials will be evaluated by the Health Ministry and the final report will be published," he said.

Tugjanov also said it was agreed to produce the first stage of QazVac jabs in Turkey.

"We aim to produce 500,000 doses of the vaccine developed by Kazakhstan against COVID-19 in a Turkish factory. We will use completely domestic materials in vaccine production. The vaccine will only be packaged in Turkey," he added.

The vaccine has been developed by the Scientific Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems in Kazakhstan.

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

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara