The Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems (RIBSP) in Kazakhstan has developed an inactivated virus vaccine under the trade name QazVac (or QazCovid-in). This method, which has also been used by the Chinese vaccines Coronavac and Sinopharm, as well as the Indian vaccine Covaxin, uses a "dead" version of the virus that causes the disease, which is not able to infect but is able to trigger a response in our immune system.
The vaccine has passed a phase I/II trial involving 244 people, for which no official results have yet been published, and was approved after passing half of a phase III clinical trial involving 3,000 volunteers, which was due to end in June. To date, no official results have been published.
Even so, RBISP, which is responsible for developing the vaccine, has reported that the injection creates "stable immunity against coronavirus infection", with Kazakhstan’s first deputy health minister, Marat Shoranov, putting its efficacy at 96% after initial trials.
The Kazakh Government reported the shipment of a first batch of 50,000 doses on 22 April for delivery from 26 April, so far only locally. It has also reported that it can be transported at a temperature of 2-8°C and is supplied in two doses 21 days apart.
The developers of QazVac have reported that the only side effects observed after receiving the vaccine were mild pain and redness at the injection site. However, no official document is available.
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