China-developed COVID-19 vaccine safe and effective, says Uzbek ministry official

TASHKENT -- The Uzbek Minister of Innovative Development Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov said that a China-developed recombinant protein vaccine against COVID-19 is safe and effective.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Abdurakhmonov noted that an ongoing phase-3 clinical trial of the vaccine in his country showed positive results, with no serious adverse event observed so far.

The trial was launched in Uzbekistan in December and undertaken by the Center of Advanced Technologies under Abdurakhmonov's ministry and Uzbekistan's Institute of Microbiology.

Uzbekistan has reached an agreement with its Chinese partners to order the vaccine in preparation for mass vaccination, Abdurakhmonov told Xinhua.

"After the delivery of these vaccines, presumably in mid-March, we intend to begin mass vaccination," the minister noted.

Uzbekistan announced last week that it has certified the vaccine, which will be marketed in the Central Asian nation under the name ZF-UZ-VAC2001.

Abdurakhmonov said that Uzbek scientists and specialists worked alongside their Chinese colleagues in the fight against the coronavirus, bolstering research cooperation between Uzbekistan and China.

The vaccine was jointly developed by the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd.