(Read the full article on Total.kz)
The third phase of trials of the Kazakh vaccine is 50% complete, Total.kz said.
Shortly, 50% of the third phase of testing the Kazakh vaccine QazVaz will be reached, Vice Minister of Education Miras Daulenov told the CCS, Total.kz reported.
“Phase 1-2 clinical trials with 244 volunteers are currently being completed. 50% of the Phase III clinical trials in 3,000 volunteers will be completed on April 15th. In accordance with the protocol of clinical trials and the requirement of the Ministry of Health and WHO, there are certain terms for conducting clinical trials. And for the third phase of clinical trials, it should be at least 70 days. You need to be patient and wait for the final results. Nevertheless, since 50% of the third phase will be reached on April 15, today we want to share some of the results of the work being carried out, ” the news organisation cited Daulenov as saying.
He clarified that the volunteers who were vaccinated were given the vaccine itself and a placebo, that is, a “blind” randomized study was used. The volunteer himself does not know, in this case, he received a real vaccine or placebo, and, accordingly, the scientists themselves cannot indicate data on volunteers.
According to him, everything is proceeding normally, according to the protocol approved by the Ministry of Health, and research is being carried out in clinics that have the appropriate GCP certificates in Almaty and Taraz. The volunteers themselves weekly inform the doctors about their state of health, constantly come to clinics, they are monitored by doctors, and they are tested for both virus-specific antibodies and neutralizing antibodies, Total.kz said.
“Also, our institute has prepared a report on the safety of the vaccine, this report was submitted to the Ministry of Health, and a report on the effectiveness of the vaccine is also being prepared. Now we are inviting volunteers to clinical bases, doing tests, and based on the results of processing these tests, we will receive final data on effectiveness, ”said the vice minister.
He also said that on March 19, the institute also received the British and South African strains of CVI, respectively, since the moment they were received, the institute has been working on the development of a polyvalent new vaccine.
“This means that we are just researching these strains, and in the future these strains will be used to improve our vaccines. The point is that such vaccines are mostly polyvalent, they are vaccines against influenza, because influenza mutates, and it is necessary to constantly look for the best result in order to achieve the greatest vaccine effectiveness. Therefore, we are also working on this issue. And the institute was tasked with developing vaccines against CVI for animals. We know that animals can also be susceptible to this disease and be carriers. So that they do not infect people, such a vaccine is needed. Therefore, the institute has been given such a task, ”concluded Daulenov.