Kazakhstan to start producing Russian COVID-19 vaccine

Kazakhstan will start producing the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the novel coronavirus this month and begin a mass vaccination campaign next year, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's office said on Friday.

Kazakhstan will start producing the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the novel coronavirus this month and begin a mass vaccination campaign next year, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's office said on Friday. The Central Asian nation will begin production of the Russian vaccine on Dec. 22 and start the campaign by vaccinating doctors, teachers and policemen, Prime Minister Askar Mamin told the president.

Kazakhstan is also about to start phase III clinical trials of its own vaccine, Mamin said, and will produce 2 million doses of it this month. The former Soviet republic of 19 million has imposed two lockdowns this year and reported 134,706 COVID-19 cases with 1,990 deaths.