Kazakhstan Lifts All COVID-19 Related Restrictions, Says Healthcare Minister

NUR-SULTAN – Due to the stabilization of the epidemiological situation in all regions, all COVID-19-related restrictions have been lifted. More than 98 percent of people with COVID-19 have recovered, Kazakh Healthcare Minister Azhar Giniyat said during a May 18 briefing at the Central Communications Service.

As of May 18, no regions are in the red and yellow zones. Photo credit: press service of Almaty Region. Click to see the map in full size

Overall, 1,305,667 coronavirus cases were confirmed in the country since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, according to the Interdepartmental Commission on the prevention and spread of coronavirus.

The minister noted that since the pandemic began the government spent to fight against COVID-19 over 890 billion tenge (US$2 billion). This year, 86 billion tenge (US$199 million) has been allocated, including nine billion tenge (US$21 million) for the purchase of VeroCell and QazVaq vaccines and 20 billion tenge (US$46 million) for the purchase of Pfizer.

According to Giniyat, approximately 11,000 people vaccinate every day. As of May 18, 9.4 million people have received one dose of the vaccine, while 9.2 million people have completed the full vaccination course. Four million people have undergone revaccination.

As of May 19, 1.1 million people have received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and 996,207 have been fully immunized. The stocks of Pfizer are estimated at one million doses at present, whereas 500,000 doses will be sufficient until the end of June.

Recently, Kazakhstan ranked 55th out of 195 countries in the Global Health Security (GHS) Index, which was issued by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (JHU), the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).


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