China’s involvement in the race for vaccinations in Central Asia confirms its aim to increase relations with neighbouring countries, primed for over a decade with the New Silk Road project. However, resistance among citizens continues to slow Chinese ambitions. This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on 1st of March 2021. While the development of Coronavirus vaccinations takes a strategic turn, China plays its hand in Central Asia. According to the Chinese press agency Xinhue, Beijing pledged to provide doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccines to Kyrgyzstan on the 5^th of February 2021, the first case of such an offer worldwide. At the same time, Uzbekistan began testing of another Chinese vaccination, developed by Anhui Zhifei Longcom. The trials launched in November 2020 and are set to continue until May 2021. Radio Ozodlik, the Uzbek branch of the American media Radio Free Europe, confirmed that Tashkent could even share co-authorship of the Chinese vaccine as they plan to produce it. Read More on Novastan : Mass Vaccination Programme Starts in Uzbekistan Diplomacy surrounding vaccinations is particularly delicate in Central Asia, where Russia and China both try to promote their respective vaccinations as a part of their competition for regional dominance. The Russian vaccination Sputnik V has been chosen by the Uzbek, Kazakh and Kyrgyz authorities for their mass vaccination programs. Read More on Novastan: Covid-19: Kazakhstan Starts Rollout of its QazVac jab The race to deliver vaccinations is not, however, the only outcome of the current health crisis: the economic situation in Central Asian countries is rapidly deteriorating due to the shrinking global economy. This is particularly true for Turkmenistan, a country that depends almost entirely on oil exports, China being their main buyer. However, China’s decreased oil demand, which is linked to the pandemic, has destabilised this unique source of foreign income for Turkmenistan. The country’s difficulty of exporting oil has paradoxically led to closer relations between the two countries, as Ashgabat depends more than ever on Chinese imports.

The New Silk Road

The new strategy is only the latest in a long list. In an interview with French media Le Monde, researcher Niva Yau describes China’s strategy in Central Asia, which has long favoured importation of mineral and energy sources from Central Asian countries to meet the extremely high demands of the Chinese economic system. Certain Central Asian countries have therefore adapted their production to satisfy Chinese demand, especially oil production. Both Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are an example of this, two countries whose oil exportation is largely dependent on Chinese demand.

The New Silk Road project, launched in 2013 in Astana, aims to create rail links between China and Europe, as well as seeks to promote cooperation within Eurasia. According to Niva Yau, China intends to work towards strengthening oil infrastructure in Turkmenistan and gas infrastructure in Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, China’s strategy is not limited to simply building new infrastructure. In 2013, China launched a program to outsource their industrial capacities, aiming to share industry expertise with the countries of Central Asia. What’s more, several Central Asian cities use Chinese ‘smart city’ technology, developed by Huawei, which aims to control populations with security cameras. In the Tajik capital Dushanbe, for example, there are over 800 of these cameras in operation. American media Eurasianet reported that other than outsourcing industrial expertise, China aims to gradually open its market to the countries of Central Asia, thus demonstrating new interest in this area. Indeed, since 2019, Beijing has signed numerous agreements relating to agrochemical standards, approving importation of food items, and even encouraging Central Asia businesses to enter the Chinese market. Kazakh media Astana Times reported that in September 2019, Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev promised a three-time increase in wheat exports to China as a response to China’s gestures. Similarly, in September 2020, Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev promised a fivefold increase in food exports. However, two hurdles remain before entering the Chinese market, according to Eurasianet: while China is an ultra-competitive market, the Central Asian countries would have to improve their border infrastructure and logistical systems in order to transport their goods to China at a low cost.

China’s Presence in Central Asia is Highly Contested

Opinions in Central Asia remain divided when it comes to China’s increased presence. Researcher Niva Yau states that several anti-Chinese protests have taken place, particularly over the past few years. Le Monde reminds readers that Kyrgyzstan in particular has been the stage of anti-Chinese sentiment, exemplified by the cancellation of a project to create a Chinese logistical centre in At Bashy in February 2020. In February 2019, several demonstrations organized by Kyrk Shoro, a nationalist movement, undermined local Kyrgyz authorities. Sinophobia is equally present in Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country heavily implicated in the New Silk Road project with Khorgos, their free trade zone. These movements are obstacles to China’s strategy, which needs full cooperation and loyal allies in the long term. Niva Yau notes that Central Asians are generally opposed to Chinese projects on their territory because of the policies linked to Chinese investment. These policies benefit local governments but leave local communities behind because of the total absence of redistribution of wealth by the ruling elite. In this regard, the diplomatic push for vaccines is unlikely to have any effect.

Corentin Goupil Editor of Novastan

Translated from French by Alice Coveney

Edited by Dagmar Nared

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This Monday 26 April, Kazakhstan started rolling out its homegrown Covid-19 vaccine, QazVac. A symbol of Kazakhstan’s scientific potential, QazVac should eventually lead to a significant increase in vaccinations in the country. Its production also marks new cooperation with Turkey.

This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on 26 April 2021.

It’s a first in Central Asia. On Monday 26 April 2021, Kazakhstan’s health minister Alexei Tsoi received one of the first injections of the QazVac vaccine against coronavirus, Kazinform reports. This vaccine was produced and developed in Kazakhstan.

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Currently 50,000 doses of QazVac are planned. This is enough to vaccinate 25,000 people, with two doses 21 days apart. The start of this campaign fulfills Kazakh President Qassym-Jomart Toqaev’s October 2020 commitment to a Kazakh vaccine. Combined with an app-based colour-coded immunity status check to enter venues, it should allow a gradual resumption of activity in the areas heavily affected by the pandemic.

A complement to the Russian vaccine

Kazakhstan has already started vaccination with the Russian Sputnik V jab, which it has secured 2 million doses of and is now manufacturing domestically. In addition, as the Kazakh media outlet Tengrinews reports, Kazakhstan ordered 3 million doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine on 26 March.

An additional 50,000 doses of the QazVac vaccine will be produced in May, Deputy Prime Minister Eraly Toǵjanov said in a statement published on the prime minister’s website. QazVac production should gradually increase to 500,000-600,000 doses per month, the statement added. QazVac production is currently installed in a plant in the Qordaı district, in the south, while Sputnik V is manufactured in Qaraǵandy, Kazakhstan’s fourth city.

One of few countries producing its own vaccine

With QazVac, Kazakhstan joins the very select club of countries that have developed their own vaccine against Covid-19, comprising the US, China, Russia, the UK, Cuba and India. QazVac was developed by the Kazakh Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems. It was approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Kúnsulý Zakarıa, the director of research institute that developed the vaccine, said QazVac was reliable and effective against Covid-19 variants. It is based on the messenger RNA model, like the Pfizer and Moderna jabs, and has demonstrated high immunostimulant activity, Kazinform explains, quoting the researcher. It can be stored between 2 and 8°C, which will greatly facilitate its transport.

Vaccines: a strategic question

Large-scale QazVac production on Kazakhstan’s territory is not expected to begin before the end of the year. Meanwhile, the country is looking for partners: the Kazakh jab is bottled in Turkey, KazInform reports.

This comes after Kazakhstan’s foreign minister Muhtar Tıleuberdı visited Ankara, where he discussed military, economic, cultural and medical subjects, on 17 March. Kazakhstan could thus make use of Turkish production sites to reach its production goal of 500,000 to 600,000 QazVac doses monthly.

Read more: Kazakhstan’s second lockdown told by those who lived it

Turkey, which mainly uses Sinovac and the German Pfizer-BioNTech for its vaccination campaign, could diversify its vaccine supply. At the same time, it would strengthen its ties with Kazakhstan in a bid to form new alliances and break out of its relative diplomatic isolation.

Kazakhstan has not yet indicated any desire to export QazVac to its regional neighbours. The government has indicated that the priority remains the vaccination of its population, Zona.kz reports.

Leo Friedrich
Novastan.org

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Uzbekistan’s Covid-19 vaccination programme has started in Tashkent, Nukus and 12 regions across the country. In the first stage, vaccines are free and prioritised for clinically vulnerable groups and medical professionals.

Uzbekistan started the mass distribution of coronavirus vaccines on 1 April in Tashkent, Nukus and 12 other regional centres. It hopes to expand throughout the whole country including more remote areas by June. According to the ministry of health, the programme uses the Oxford-AstraZeneca (renamed Vaxzevria) and the Chinese-Uzbek ZF-UZ-VAC 2001 vaccines.

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The first phase of the vaccine rollout will prioritise medical personnel, people over the age of 65 and other clinically vulnerable groups. In an official statement, the deputy head of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health Service Nurmat Atabekov talked of how the country has prepared for the rollout, saying that “more than 4000 doctors and 11000 nurses have been trained in the vaccination process”.

After outlining the country’s plan until June, which includes vaccinating 142 300 people in 219 vaccination centres in April alone, Atabekov ended his statement with a message of hope: “A vaccine against coronavirus is the greatest achievement of modern medicine, and there is no reason to be sceptical of it.”

Two vaccines available

On 31 March 2021, the minister of health Abduhakim Xajiboev stated that as part of the rollout the country has secured 660 thousand doses of the Vaxzevria vaccine (AstraZeneca) and 1 million doses of the ZF-UZ-VAC 2001 through COVAX. The latter was developed by China’s Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical and registered for use on 1 March 2021. 

In addition, Uzbekistan will receive a further 2 million doses of the Vaxzevria vaccine between May and June, and 3.5 million doses of the ZF-UZ-VAC2011 between April and June through COVAX. Xajiboev also announced an agreement with the Russian Federation for 1 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

In an interview with the Uzbekistan 24 TV channel in early April, the minister of health spoke of the plan to vaccinate 4 million people by the end of June, over 11.5% of Uzbekistan’s 35 million population.

Speaking to Uzbek media-outlet Gazeta.uz on 17 March 2021, before the start of the vaccine rollout, Bahodir Yusupaliyev, the deputy minister of health, stressed that receiving the vaccination is entirely voluntary. The choice of which particular vaccine is taken is at the patient’s discretion: “if you want, have the AstraZeneca vaccine; if you want, have the Chinese vaccine; if you want, have the Chinese-Uzbek or Russian Sputnik V vaccines,” Yusupaliyev said. 

First dose of the Chinese-Uzbek jab

As the first vaccination centres opened, a correspondent from Gazeta.uz visited the clinic in which the first dose of the ZF-UZ-VAC 2001 vaccine was given to the clinic’s head doctor, Nargiza Xolmuxamedova. She told Gazeta.uz’s journalist that her clinic has two vaccination points with other mobile teams formed in order to vaccinate employees in hospitals, dental clinics and other medical institutions in the district. Upon getting the vaccine, she explained her decision: “As a leader, I have to be an example for my 152 employees in the clinic”.

Read more: Tajikistan declares itself coronavirus-free

The start of Uzbekistan’s vaccine programme comes as Tajikistan began its vaccination programme on 23 March 2021 with free doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine provided through the COVAX scheme. Earlier this week, Kyrgyzstan’s minister of health Alymkadyr Beishenaliev began the country’s vaccine rollout with the help of free batches of China’s Sinopharm vaccine.

As it stands on 1 April 2021, Uzbekistan has reported a total number of 83,050 coronavirus infections, with 630 deaths.

Molly Arnold
Novastan.org

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