The domestic inactivated vaccine Qazvac against COVID-19, developed by the Research Institute of Biological Safety Problems of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is now undergoing the final stage of clinical trials on three thousand volunteers. According to its developers, it differs from foreign vaccines in that it was created taking into account the numerous mutations of the SARS- Cov-2 virus (COVID-19).

According to Dos Sarbasov, professor of biology at Nazarbayev University, director of the Astana National Laboratory, it should give a broader immune response, since almost all coronavirus proteins are represented in it.

“Our immune system protects us from all foreign bodies and pathogens, including viruses and bacteria,” says the scientist. – But some microorganisms can cause serious damage to the body and even cause death if the immune system has not had time to respond to them in a timely manner. The recognition of foreign bodies in the body occurs by the production of specific proteins – antibodies. Vaccination is designed to prepare it for this by administrating a harmless prototype of the pathogen (an inactivated bacterium or virus) into it. The American Pfizer and the Russian Sputnik-V induce (excite) the synthesis of only one S-protein of the coronavirus (the very spike on the surface of the virus that resembles a crown), after which the body will produce antibodies against it.

Double vaccination gives a great guarantee for the production of more specific antibodies. And if a real infection gets into the body, then they are ready to actively neutralize it, in this case, a coronavirus infection. Since we are dealing with an RNA virus, SARS-Cov-2 has a high tendency to mutations. This means that if the gene encoding the S-protein mutates, then the vaccine will not be as effective. I mean Pfizer and Sputnik-V.

The domestic Qazvac, as well as the Chinese Sinvac vaccine represent an inactivated SARS-Cov-2 virus. A few micrograms of it, once in the body, make it possible to produce antibodies against almost all the main proteins of the virus — three membrane (H, S and M) and at least 13 non-structural. Thus, after vaccination with Qazvac, much more antigens (foreign bodies) are formed, representing all the main proteins of the virus, which means more different antibodies specifically binding to the virus. It is assumed that the efficiency of Qazvac will therefore be higher because it has a much larger number of proteins that cannot mutate at the same time.

– If we have such an effective vaccine, then why are we being offered to be vaccinated with Sputnik-V?

– The fact is that our infrastructure before the world was faced with a pandemic was not brought to a level capable of producing a vaccine very quickly and in sufficient quantities. The existing production facilities were adapted for their production in fairly small quantities, and then mainly for agriculture. But most importantly, Qazvac, developed by domestic scientists, is still undergoing clinical trials. Now the third, final phase is underway, designed to prove that it is really effective. I would like to emphasize that all vaccines that will be produced on a large scale for human use must pass through strict, certified criteria. I repeat, we were not ready for this. No one expected CoVID-19 to change our lives so much.

Nevertheless, I am very pleased that Kazakhstan has managed to create its own vaccine. The past year has taught us a lot and now we are, as it seems to me, on very serious rails. A powerful scientific and production structure for the production of effective vaccines has been built (they say the plant is already at the stage of commissioning).

Qazvac developers plan to finish the third stage of testing by June or July. To confirm the effectiveness of the vaccine, it is necessary to establish not only the level of antibodies against coronavirus viral proteins in the subjects, but also to show the degree of coronavirus morbidity in Kazakhstanis who participated in clinical trials.

In the meantime, we need to give developers the opportunity to calmly finish the work and create a normal working vaccine. This is a very serious project for the country, we need to prove that we can solve serious problems efficiently and in a timely manner.

By the way, Qazvac is not the only vaccine that Kazakhstan is developing against a dangerous infection. There are “five echelons” at once, that is, five different vaccines. Qazvac is the first, but at the same time the simplest type of it. If it does not give the expected effect, then they will use the second, third…

– Aren’t we late with the vaccine?

– It would have been ideal if it had appeared last summer, but it was impossible. We are late, we are not late, but the most important problem today is that not everyone wants to be vaccinated. There are many of them even among my acquaintances. To be honest, I can’t understand the reasons for such a negative attitude towards vaccination.

– Maybe because of the fakes that people will be chipped through vaccination, that all vaccines have long-term consequences?

– This is a big paradox for me. I thought we had passed this stage of distrust a long time ago, but now people have fallen into some kind of misunderstanding again, although everyone seems to have studied biology at school, everyone has been vaccinated against tuberculosis and other dangerous diseases since childhood. Therefore, in my opinion, today it is necessary to strengthen explanatory work. Finally, create programs where it would be possible to show how the vaccine works. To tell, for example, that Qazvac was created according to the classical type, that is, a virulent organism, in this case, the SARS-Cov-2 virus, was completely neutralized before being taken into the body, where it should produce antibodies.

The population should understand: in order for the spread of coronavirus infection to become more or less controlled, it is necessary to increase the percentage of vaccination to at least 70%.

That’s when the situation would have stabilized and the number of infections would have decreased to a minimum. But now Covid is raging again in full force, we have been hearing the figure for more than a month – about two thousand infected daily. This is a very high indicator for Kazakhstan. We are again at a real peak, last summer the percentage of infected was much lower. However, then there was a problem with the diagnosis. It’s hard to say what will happen next, I’m not really a forecaster, but there is no other alternative than vaccination to get out of the difficult situation in which the country and the whole world find themselves. There is no point in scolding the government. It is doing everything to stabilize the situation, that is, while its own vaccine is undergoing clinical trials, it buys it from those countries where it has already been put into mass production. The American Pfizer has not yet reached us, but there is a Russian Satellite-V and a Chinese Simvac.

– And what vaccine did you choose yourself?

– Sputnik, there were no others at the time when I did it. I think that in six months or a year it will be possible to be re-vaccinated, now with the domestic Qazvac vaccine, in order to strengthen the body’s immune response to infection. In America, for example, it is now advised to support the immune system once a year to fight COVID by vaccination.

– And what will we do if COVID-20, 21, 22 and so on appear? Create new vaccines?

– That’s not going to happen. The virus will remain the same, it will just mutate. That is why we assume that Qazvac will be more effective compared to those expressing (synthesizing) vaccines where there is only one S-protein SARS-Cov-2. We expect that it will give a broader immune response, since it contains almost all the proteins of the coronavirus.

– How did you react to the fact that the President of Kazakhstan was vaccinated with a Russian, not a domestic vaccine?

– I have already mentioned the reason — at that time the clinical trials of Qazvac were not completed. The country’s leadership, including the president, needs to be vaccinated with proven drugs, as their work includes numerous official meetings every day.

I don’t see anything terrible in the fact that people are now being vaccinated by the Russian Satellite-V or the Chinese Sinvac. It is better to prevent the possibility of a strong covid effect and to insure yourself than to constantly live in fear of infection, which can become fatal.

– In America, children who have reached the age of 16 have begun to be vaccinated. What about us?

– According to the latest information even 12-year-olds are being vaccinated there now.

– But why didn’t they do it right away?

– Because they were not in the risk zone. And now there is time and opportunity to conduct clinical trials of the vaccine on children, too. It turned out that it is safe and effective. I think that as soon as the clinical trials of Qazvac on adults pass, they will begin to vaccinate our children too.

– How long can Qazvac protect against infection?

– Any effective vaccine works for years. For example, Gardasil (human papillomavirus vaccine) at least 15 years. As for Qazvac, it is important to trace the dynamics of the variability of the coronavirus. If it actively mutates, then it is necessary to change the vaccines accordingly. That is, to constantly monitor by complete genomic sequencing (sequencing) of the virus in at least 10% of patients. Such a task is quite feasible, our university has the latest systems and technologies for this.

– Many quite intelligent and educated people, even from your field, talk about the long-term consequences of the vaccines offered today. For example, about cancer formations, repeated infection with COVID. There was even a figure – in Kazakhstan 800 people in the second fell ill with it.

– No vaccine will prevent re-infection, it will only activate the immune system in time and in a timely manner so that the body will be ready to repel the attack of a foreign organism, but at the initial stage the virus will certainly infect the cells of the body. As for oncological diseases as a consequence of vaccination, this is just a provocation. I have worked for many years in a leading cancer center in the USA and not a single case provoked by one or another vaccine has been registered there.

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