Imported coronavirus vaccine is hugely more expensive than Kazakhstan-made one, said members of the Kazakh Parliament during a plenary session of the Senate, its Upper House. A dose of the Chinese two-component vaccine Hayat-Vax costs US$62.2, a shot of Russian-made vaccine Sputnik V costs US$26, and a shot of the domestic QazVac costs US$9.4. In this regard, senators raised the issue of the need to procure foreign vaccines as well as the risk of its impact on the efficiency of Kazakhstan-made antiviral medicines. Kazakh Health Minister Alexey Tsoy, in his turn, said that the prices outlined by the MP were set by manufacturers. The procurement of various vaccines is carried out to increase the availability of vaccines on Kazakhstan’s market.
“Now the production capacities are reoriented to the manufacturing of vaccines. But these manufacturing platforms also produce biological medicines for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Therefore, we don’t see any problems with the closure of plants in terms of vaccination, because all plants are multifunctional and produce a wide range of medicines. In addition, the vaccination drive is not carried out one time, it is ongoing. We have more than 20 vaccines in the annual vaccination calendar. That is why Kazakhstan has great potential for the development of the domestic pharmaceutical industry,” Tsoy noted.
Translation by Saniya Sakenova
Editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova
