Kazakhstan to Produce Two Million Jabs of Sputnik V

Kazakhstan’s producer of the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine will produce an additional batch of 2 million doses amid a significant increase in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations.

Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex (KPC), which is the local manufacturer of the Russian vaccine, announced this week the signing of a new agreement with SK-Pharmacia, a distributor of medicines in Kazakhstan. Under the document, KPC will manufacture and supply another two million doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.

“Having fulfilled its obligations to supply five million doses of Sputnik V for vaccination of the country’s citizens on time, Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex took on new commitments for the production and supply of the Russian drug developed by the Gamaleya Research Center against the coronavirus infection,” reads the statement issued by the Kazakhstani manufacturer. 

Sputnik V, also known as Gam-COVID-Vac, was Russia’s first vaccine to be registered for use. While the Sputnik V’s efficacy is confirmed at 91.4 percent based on data analysis of the final control point of clinical trials, the vaccine efficacy against severe coronavirus cases is said to be 100 percent. As of today, about 70 countries have already registered the Russian-made vaccine.

More than 626,400 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Kazakhstan since the pandemic began. The nation reported more than 6,531 deaths from Covid-19, while 514,299 have recovered.

Kazakhstan has been relying on the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine since the country launched mass vaccination on February 1. Two weeks later, Kazakhstan officially registered locally manufactured Sputnik V. 

Central Asia’s largest and wealthiest country has authorized four vaccines, including Sputnik V, Chinese CoronaVac and Hayat-Vax, and Kazakhstan’s first domestically developed QazVac.

As of August 3, Kazakhstan has vaccinated almost 40 percent of the eligible population with two components. The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will continue in Kazakhstan through late 2021, providing coverage for up to six million people out of the country’s population of almost 19 million.

Kazakhstan has so far administered at least 9,733,159 doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Assuming every person needs two doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 26.3 percent of the country’s total population, according to Reuters Covid-19 tracker.

In an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus, the government of Kazakhstan has introduced new rules requiring people working in contact with the public – anywhere from government offices and stores to leisure facilities – to show evidence of vaccination before being allowed into their place of work.

The deadly virus, first identified in Chinese Wuhan in December 2019, has exponentially spread around the globe. The number of global coronavirus cases continues to rise, with more than 202 million confirmed cases and over 4,2 million deaths recorded in more than 200 countries and territories.

Over 4.3 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered globally to date, according to the latest data published on Our World in Data.