4 Mar in 7:29 Eurasianet
Uzbekistan is embarking on a mass coronavirus inoculation campaign with a vaccine that is still months away from completing its third stage of tests,
Eurasianet writes. Millions are being offered the option of getting a jab for free, but it is far from clear how many will be eager. And the fact that life largely returned to normal a long time ago may rob the drive of a sense of urgency.
Local news outlets on March 1 trumpeted the news of the certification of Uzbekistan’s own home-grown vaccine. This might be something of an overstatement, though. The vaccine has in reality largely been developed by China’s Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, and some of the crucial third-stage testing is taking place in Uzbekistan. It appears to be on that basis that the resulting vaccine has earned the local brand name of ZF-UZ-VAC 2001.