Vaccination has been recognised by the world as the only efficient way to fight the pandemic. It’s only immunisation that can produce herd immunity and get people back to the pre-Covid pace of life. According to scholars and doctors, the vaccinated people are less frequently infected with coronavirus, and even in this case the disease has less severe course and no lethal outcomes.
24-year-old resident of Nur-Sultan Aidar Ryskali is the civil engineer and meets with hundreds of people every day, which means that he is in the group that must be vaccinated against Covid-19.
“I visited the local policlinic and they offered a few choices of the vaccine. To be honest, I trust more our domestic vaccines so I chose QazVac. I injected the first component in early summer, and the second one in 21 days. After the vaccination, I had neither side effects nor fever,” Ryskali said.
The inactivated vaccine QazVac was produced in April 2021, and since then 1 million doses were delivered to the warehouses of SK-Pharmaciya (the only distributor of drugs and medical products under the guaranteed scope of free medical aid – editor’s note).
One of the advantages of the Kazakhstan vaccine is its storage conditions. If Sputnik V should be stored in a refrigerator at 18 degrees Celsius below zero, QazVac should be stored at +2…+8 degrees Celsius.
In addition to it, Kazakhstan has four more vaccines – Russian Sputnik V, CoronaVac, Chinese Sinopharm and domestic Hayat-Vax. Before the end of the year, the country will receive 4 million doses of Comirnaty from Pfizer, the only vaccine with proven efficiency recommended for persons aged 12-17 and pregnant women.
The large-scale immunisation against the coronavirus infection continues in Kazakhstan. According to official data, the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the country is stable. All regions show the decline in the incidence rate, in the number of severe cases and inpatient and outpatient treatment cases. The bed load in infectious hospitals has declined by 30 per cent, in intensive care units up to 26 per cent.
According to the Ministry of Health, Kazakhstan has shifted to the green zone, with 9 regions in the green zone. This being said, 6 regions are in the moderate risk zone, or yellow zone. 2 regions of the country – Pavlodar and North Kazakhstan – remain in the high risk zone, i.e. red zone.
According to predictions of the agency regarding the epidemiologic situation for the three following months:
- In the pessimistic scenario, the average daily number of registered cases in November will be up to 1,800, in December – up to 2,350 cases;
- In the realistic scenario: in November – up to 1,650 cases, in December – up to 1,600 cases;
- In the optimistic scenario: in November – up to 1,500 cases, in December – up to 1,100 cases a day.
According to November 16 data, the country has over 8.5 million people vaccinated with the first component, and over 7.8 people vaccination with the second component.
Get vaccinated and win
The authorities of Kazakhstan continue to stimulate its citizens to get vaccinated against the coronavirus by drawing valuable prizes. Almost all cities hold cash contests.
Asemgul Iskakova won a two-room apartment in Nur-Sultan. The winner was announced live in one of the republican TV channels. She confessed to the media that she got vaccinated not to win prizes. She was vaccinated in summer at the policlinic No. 7. She chose Russian Sputnik V. When she was vaccinated, the woman did not know she was taking part in the contest.
“Even when I won the apartment, I didn’t know about the contest. I just wanted to get vaccinated. It was my obligation. It wasn’t for the apartment, the prize,” she said (quoted from inform.kz).
According to the municipal akimat, “earlier, 19 iPhones 12, six refrigerators, four TV sets, two tablet PCs, four microwave ovens, five printers, two dashboard cameras, washing machines, smart speakers, air humidifiers, and other prizes were raffled off. A car was raffled off at the vaccination station at MEGA Silk Way shopping mall. Prize drawing will continue among the vaccinated.”
In Pavlodar, resident of the regional centre Anastasia Grinchenko got vaccinated and won one million tenge (2,320 dollars). In Almaty, vaccinated residents can also try to win a car and a trip to the UAE.
In Ust-Kamenogorsk, a security officer at one of the schools, Nadezhda Myasoyed, won a car among the vaccinated.
“I decided to get the vaccine as I work with children, and they are our future we should take care of. I think that every resident of our city must get vaccinated. My new car is very comfortable, and I am very happy with the gift. Now my family will often go to forest or to the riverside,” said the winner after she was presented with the keys (quoted from baigenews.kz).
Kazakhstan universities also hold campaigns among the vaccinated students and teachers. The possible bonuses are discounts for hostels and education, trips to resorts, extra cash bonuses and free gym memberships.
At Nur-Sultan, trips to resorts will be drawn among vaccinated pensioners. The winners of the lottery may relax at resorts of Saryagash (Turkestan region), Borovoye (Akmola region), and Moiyldy (Pavlodar region).
In turn, the editorial staff of CABAR.asia asked the residents of Nur-Sultan whether valuable prizes are a good motivation for vaccination. We have asked over forty respondents. According to responses, the majority of respondents were sceptical about such “lures”. By contrast, the rest were not averse to try their luck.
Scandal with anti-vaxxers
Just like the rest of the world, Kazakhstan has anti-vaxxers. They continue to spread fake news in social media. Some of them sound very weird and illogical, but citizens continue to trust such rumours.
The anti-vaccination movement in Kazakhstan is rather non-uniform and disparate. Thus, the administration of school No. 58 in Nur-Sultan filed a complaint against active anti-vaxxer Aina Bakeyeva and her supporters for the application of physical force against school workers.
At the end of October, video was distributed via parent chats, where Aina Bakeyeva made a scene at school No. 58 in Nur-Sultan, where a child felt sick allegedly during vaccination against coronavirus.
The video showed several women who claimed that the school was vaccinating schoolchildren. One of the authors of the video said she was a journalist. Throughout the video, the women were brawling, trying to get close to the student by scuffling with the medical staff and the school staff.
However, this information about coronavirus vaccination in the school proved to be unreliable. The boy was reported to become sick during the school break.
On October 28, court found Aina Bakeyeva guilty and sentenced her to 10 days of arrest.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health strengthened communication work with the population regarding the importance of vaccination against Covid-19. According to the chief of the agency, 3,417 cases of refusal to vaccinate were registered in the first six months of 2021.
Ashyq territory
As to Ashyq app, the project became a pass to almost daily life both for the population and for businesses. Many people have got used to the mandatory procedure when one cannot buy clothes or visit a hairdresser, go to a hospital or a railway station. At least, according to the Ministry of Health, Ashyq will stop those who are dangerous.
Ashyq is an app for registration of visitors of public places. At the entrance, a user scans a special QR code and presents it to the administrator. The code defines the visitor’s status.
Red status means that a person tested positive for coronavirus in a PCR test. Users with this status are required to follow the strict regime of self-isolation at home.
Yellow status is assigned to contact persons. They are allowed to go out to buy food or to a nearest pharmacy, but are prohibited to visit public places.
Blue status means movement at any place but those places were PCR test is mandatory.
Green status is a sign of full freedom of movement.
However, it is not difficult to circumvent the system. Therefore, there are no guarantees that you have passed the test and have gotten into the society of healthy people. You can have people with red status in the database of the Ministry of Health near you, but they can easily go to a public place. There have been cases when lockdown breakers made screenshots of a “healthy” person with a green status and showed it upon entry, or authorise another identity card on his phone.
Title photo: Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan