Mass vaccination campaign against coronavirus kicks off in Uzbekistan

A mass vaccination campaign against the coronavirus is set to begin in Uzbekistan on April 1. About 3,200 vaccination centers have been set up across the country and nearly 1,000 mobile vaccination teams have been formed. At-risk groups are prioritized for vaccination.

"People from the so-called at-risk groups, including those over the age of 65, health workers involved in the treatment of coronavirus patients, teachers and law enforcement officers, will be prioritized for vaccination," deputy head of the country’s health watchdog Nurmat Otabekov said. He pointed out that vaccination would be voluntary.

The vaccination effort currently involves the AstraZeneca vaccine and a vaccine developed by China’s Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical. Phase three trials of the vaccine were conducted in Uzbekistan, which is why the Chinese company recognized Uzbek experts as co-developers, TASS reported.

On March 17, 660,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were delivered in Uzbekistan through the COVAX platform. The country expects to receive 2.64 mln vaccine doses through the platform. The Uzbek authorities also expect that the deliveries of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine will begin in the near future. The country is in talks on vaccine purchases with 12 companies from various countries.

Uzbekistan has so far recorded 82,869 coronavirus cases, 80,983 recoveries and 642 deaths.