{"id":151894,"date":"2021-05-06T10:28:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T10:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=195194"},"modified":"2021-05-06T10:28:07","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T10:28:07","slug":"despite-assurances-some-kazakhs-leery-of-little-known-homegrown-covid-19-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/05\/06\/despite-assurances-some-kazakhs-leery-of-little-known-homegrown-covid-19-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Assurances, Some Kazakhs Leery Of Little-Known, Homegrown COVID-19 Vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"
NUR-SULTAN — The fact that it hasn’t completed its clinical trials hasn’t stopped thousands of Kazakh citizens from getting their first shot of the domestically developed coronavirus vaccine QazVac.<\/p>\n
The two-dose vaccine is still in its third stage of studies, which are expected to be completed in July. But QazVac’s developers — the state-backed Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems — insists the vaccine is safe and effective.<\/p>\n
The institute claims QazVac has shown a 96 percent efficacy against the virus during second-phase testing.<\/p>\n
No serious side effects have been reported among the vaccine recipients since the QazVac rollout began on April 26. The Health Ministry says 50,000 doses of QazVac have been distributed across the Central Asian country of nearly 19 million people.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019d support vaccination with QazVac once I see enough published data [that backs the developers\u2019 claims].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
But some independent experts have expressed skepticism due to what they describe as insufficient testing information, as well as the relatively small number of participants in QazVac testing thus far.<\/p>\n
By the QazVac developers\u2019 own admission, some 3,000 people took part in the trials that began in September. For comparison, the study for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine involved more than 43,000 participants.<\/p>\n
Lesbek Kutymbetov, a QazVac developer, said the team is \u201cfully confident that the vaccine is harmless.\u201d He added that the research institute has been involved in vaccine production for decades.<\/p>\n
QazVac was developed using the traditional method of taking a dead virus to spur an immune response from the body, Kutymbetov explained. After testing the vaccine on animals, Kutymbetov was the first person to get a QazVac jab in its early trials.<\/p>\n
According to the QazVac manufacturer, it doesn\u2019t need to be stored in freezers like the prominently used Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. QazVac can be kept in regular refrigerators.<\/p>\n
Like the other coronavirus vaccines, it\u2019s not yet clear how long QazVac will give immunity from the coronavirus to someone. Early research showed \u201cantibodies lasted about half-a-year and then their numbers decreased in the seventh month,\u201d Kutymbetov said.<\/p>\n
‘No Time To Write Articles’<\/big><\/strong><\/p>\n
QazVaq developers haven\u2019t published much information about their research on the vaccine, with Kutymbetov saying that they \u201cdon\u2019t have time\u2026to write articles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asel Musabekova, a French-based expert on cellular and molecular biology, said a lack of information makes it impossible to assess the vaccine\u2019s safety and efficacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey could at least publish the results of the first and second phases of the clinical trials,” she said. “I\u2019d support vaccination with QazVac once I see enough published data [that backs the developers\u2019 claims].\u201d<\/p>\n