The coronavirus infection keeps on attacking the Kazakhstanis. The republic shows high numbers of cases. Officials of the country keep saying that only mass vaccination can save the situation.
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According to the official information of the health ministry broken down by regions and cities as of May 11, the first vaccine component was administered to 1,698,893 persons, including 625,753 who received both doses of the vaccine. Most of the Kazakhstanis were vaccinated in Almaty (255,383) and Almaty region (181,089).
Vaccination against COVID-19 started in Kazakhstan on February 1, 2021. In early April, President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev threatened the government and health minister Aleksei Tsoi to replace the staff if the country fails to overcome the difficult situation with the coronavirus.
“Less than 0.1 per cent of the people were vaccinated two months later. Now I have to arrange for additional vaccine supplies with the heads of other states… We have to agree on unprofitable commercial and financial conditions in order to expedite the supplies,” said Tokayev at the meeting to overcome coronavirus.
10 million people need to be vaccinated in Kazakhstan. 233 field vaccination teams are involved into vaccination in remote regions, organised groups, crowded places. Nearly 10 thousand medical workers are engaged into the immunisation campaign.
According to the health ministry plans, in April the number of vaccinated people had to be 2.3 million people or 23.4 per cent, in May – 4.4 million (44 per cent), in June – 6.4 million (64 per cent). It is expected to vaccinate 7.9 million people (79 per cent) in July, 8.9 million (89 per cent) in August. Thus, all those people who need to be vaccinated will be covered in September.
However, the pace still lags behind. As of May 10, nearly 17 per cent are vaccinated. One of the reasons is the vaccine refusal.
According to the survey of the Demoscope, the express public opinion monitoring bureau, nearly 23 per cent of Kazakhstanis are against the coronavirus vaccination.
On May 9, 2020, Kazakhstan-based scientists developed the QazCovid-in vaccine. The vaccine was made using a safe technology from a killed virus and with added adjuvant. On May 15, the WHO registered it as a candidate vaccine. On December 19, the health ministry gave permission to the third phase of clinical trials. Now the third phase of clinical trials is in progress.
The Kazakh vaccine QazVac is going to be manufactured at the biopharmaceutical plant in Zhambyl region under the name of QazVac. However, the plant is not started yet and the domestic vaccine is being manufactured at another facility. This is what Kunsulu Zakarya, the general director of the Research Institute for Biological Safety Issues, said at the briefing.
“We have entered into the agreement with SK-Pharmacia to manufacture 50 thousand doses per month with gradual increase up to 500 thousand doses,” said the general director.
One vaccine doses costs 4.7 dollars.
The vaccination in Kazakhstan is held on a voluntary basis. One can get the vaccine at the following places:
- A policlinic in one’s community;
- A vaccination point at any location.
Vaccination points are also located in shopping malls and at markets. But before you get vaccinated, you should first ask if the vaccine is available.
If you want to get a vaccine at a policlinic, you should register for it:
Via a mobile app Damumed (in your profile, make an appointment at your general practitioner and specify in the note that the purpose is to get vaccinated against Covid). Once the GP adds the patient to the vaccination schedule, the patient gets a short message to their phone specifying the date, time and place of vaccination. When you come to get vaccinated, you should have your ID card with you.
Currently, the republic has no registered cases of vaccine-caused side effects after vaccination. However, expected reactions that are described in the vaccine manual are still being registered. These are local actions such as pain, oedema, redness at the place of vaccine, as well as system response such as increase of the body temperature, flu-like symptoms, arthralgia, myalgia.
Three days after the vaccination, one should not:
- Apply water to the injection site;
- Go to a bathhouse, saunas;
- Drink alcohol.
Also, one should avoid excessive physical exercises.
The theory of negative impact of coronavirus vaccines on fertility has been overturned many times. According to Zhannat Satybaldieva, doctor of medicine, professor, member of the National Advisory Committee for People’s Immunisation of the Health Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a vaccine cannot make a person sterile.
“As to infertility, which is allegedly caused by the vaccine, none of existing vaccines in the world have effect on it. This is a kind of a myth that is disseminated actively by anti-vaccination activists. But this is not true. This is a mere assertion. It makes no sense,” she said.
It is important that clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine were started 10 months ago – on June 16, 2020. No cases of infertility have been reported in volunteers since then.
It’s not so yet. The health ministry is asking the citizens to continue observing restrictive measures after vaccination: to wear masks and to wash their hands.
This is due to the fact that if a person who has immunity to the coronavirus gets the viruses from anyone (in other words, catches the infection) because they do not observe restrictive measures, they would become the carrier of the disease. Without observing the protective measures, they can transmit the viruses to another person.
According to the sanitary and epidemiological control board, the immunity will develop six weeks after the administration of the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The coronavirus vaccine used in the country does not contain the live virus. Therefore, the vaccine cannot cause COVID-19. The vaccine contains only a particle of the coronavirus that develops antibodies. In future, in case of the disease, these antibodies will be detecting the whole natural virus based on this particle and destroying it.
A vaccinated person cannot catch the infection from the vaccine and cannot be contagious for those around him because of the vaccination.
Doctors recommend to get vaccinated six months after having the coronavirus infection, no matter the severity.
No, this is manipulation.
Kaznet users have discussed on Telegram a document that was found on the official website of the British government. It allegedly contained the summary of adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines.
The tables in it are daily reports of the Yellow Card scheme. They contain voluntary reports of people who were vaccinated and felt sickish or who underwent certain medical procedures. The website asks the citizens not to report their symptoms even if they have nothing to do with the vaccination.
“Reported events are not always proven adverse reactions, and some may have happened regardless of vaccination. It is often coincidental that both the vaccine and the adverse reaction occurred around the same time,” according to the description of the scheme mechanism.
The report contains data about surgical interventions that were performed to vaccinated people and even data about the methods of contraception used by them and further vaccines administered. Such reactions could not be caused by vaccines, but they were specified in the summary as they were reported.
Then specialists study the prepared reports and exclude conditions and events that are not related to vaccination. The remaining conditions and events are thoroughly checked either to prove or to disprove the suspected adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccines.
Ashyq is an app for registration of visitors in public places. Before entering, the user scans a special QR code and submits it to the administrator. The code defines the status of the visitor.
Red status is assigned to a person who tested positive for coronavirus on a PCR test. Those having this status should stay at home and self-isolate.
Yellow status is assigned to contact persons. They are allowed to go out and buy food or to go to a pharmacy near the house, but they are not allowed to go to other public places.
Blue status means free movement but places where PCR test is a requirement.
Green means full freedom of movement.
QR code is assigned to business entities only. According to Yerzhan Baitanaev, the official representative of the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control, this project ensures additional safety measures for healthy population, therefore it is very significant for healthcare workers.
Main photo: unsplash.com
This article was prepared as part of the Giving Voice, Driving Change – from the Borderland to the Steppes Project.