Safety and immunogenicity of the first Kazakh inactivated vaccine for COVID-19

Breaking the Barrier: SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Wild and Companion Animals and Their Implications for Public Health

The emergence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has led to significant interest in its potential transmission between animals and humans, especially pets. This review article summarises the literature on coronavirus infections in domestic animals, emphasising epidemiology, transmission dynamics, clinical manifestations, and public health implications. This article highlights current understandings of the relationship between infections in companion animals and humans, identifies research gaps, and suggests directions for future research. Cases of disease in cats, dogs, and other domestic animals, often occurring through close contact with infected owners, are reviewed, raising concerns about possible zoonotic and reverse zoonotic transmission. Precautions and recommendations for pet owners and healthcare workers are also discussed. The scientific evidence presented in the article highlights the need for a One Health approach that considers the health of people, animals, and the environment to combat future pandemics.

Attitude toward vaccination against COVID-19 and acceptance of the national "QazVac" vaccine in the Aktobe city population, West Kazakhstan: A cross-sectional survey

The scale of emergency caused by COVID-19, the ease of survey, and the crowdsourcing deployment guaranteed by the latest technology have allowed unprecedented access to data describing behavioral changes induced by the pandemic. The study aimed to present the survey results identifying attitudes toward vaccination against COVID-19 among the population of West Kazakhstan, the level of confidence in the national QazVac vaccine, and the role of different sources of information on COVID-19 in decision-making concerning vaccination. A computer-assisted survey was conducted using WhatsApp messenger. Overall, 2,009 participants responded, with a response rate of 92%. Most (83.1%) were immunized against COVID-19; among them, 20.1% obeyed the request of their employers that had been practiced within non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain the disease. The youngest respondents, individuals with a college education, students, and employed people, as well as those with chronic diseases, showed positive attitudes toward vaccination (all p<0.05). About two-thirds of respondents (69.2%) expressed trust in all types of vaccines against COVID-19. Of those who refused vaccination (16.9%), about one-third feared vaccination consequences, and more than a third (38.2%) reported anti-vaccine sentiments. The decisive factors in accepting vaccination were trust in official sources of information (reports of medical experts, etc.) and, mainly, subjectively interpreted sufficiency of information about the disease, which had increased the odds of being vaccinated by 63.9% (OR 1.71, 95% CI [1.3;2.26], p<0.05). Confidence in the domestic QazVac vaccine was expressed by 37.7% of respondents. History and severity of COVID-19 disease did not play a role in positive perceptions of vaccination, while illness after vaccination substantially affected vaccination approval (p 0.021). No significant differences have been observed regarding the overall performance across five vaccines (QazVac, Sputnik V, CoronaVac, Hayat-Vax, and BioNTech/Pfizer) available for Kazakhstan's population (p 0.27).

Safety Assessment: a Comparative Analysis of Quantitative Content of Bacterial Endotoxins and Evaluation of Pyrogenicity of the Kazakhstan Vaccine QazCovid-in® against COVID-19

We measured the levels of bacterial endotoxins in the bulk vaccine product (BVP) and finished vaccine QazCovid-in® and evaluated the effect of aluminum hydroxide (adjuvant) on the results of LAL test and pyrogenicity of samples in vivo (in rabbits receiving intravenous injection into the marginal ear vein). Administration of BVP with LPS resulted in a dose-dependent increase in body temperature in rabbits similar to that caused by LPS alone, which suggests that aluminum hydroxide in the vaccine did not affect the pyrogenic response in rabbits. Moreover, the LAL test showed that the aluminum hydroxide did not hinder LPS activity after serial dilution of samples.

Pre-Clinical Safety and Immunogenicity Study of a Coronavirus Protein-Based Subunit Vaccine for COVID-19

Creating an effective and safe vaccine is critical to fighting the coronavirus infection successfully. Several types of COVID-19 vaccines exist, including inactivated, live attenuated, recombinant, synthetic peptide, virus-like particle-based, DNA and mRNA-based, and sub-unit vaccines containing purified immunogenic viral proteins. However, the scale and speed at which COVID-19 is spreading demonstrate a global public demand for an effective prophylaxis that must be supplied more. The developed products promise a bright future for SARS-CoV-2 prevention; however, evidence of safety and immunogenicity is mandatory before any vaccine can be produced. In this paper, we report on the results of our work examining the safety, toxicity, immunizing dose choice, and immunogenicity of QazCoVac-P, a Kazakhstan-made sub-unit vaccine for COVID-19. First, we looked into the product's safety profile by assessing its pyrogenicity in vaccinated rabbit models and using the LAL (limulus amebocyte lysate) test. We examined the vaccine's acute and sub-chronic toxicity on BALB/c mice and rats. The vaccine did not cause clinically significant toxicity-related changes or symptoms in our toxicity experiments. Finally, we performed a double immunization of mice, ferrets, Syrian hamsters, and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). We used ELISA to measure antibody titers with the maximum mean geometric titer of antibodies in the animals' blood sera totaling approximately 8 log2. The results of this and other studies warrant recommending the QazCoVac-P vaccine for clinical trials.

Vaccine research and development capacity in Central and West Asia: A path toward sustainable vaccine R&D programs

The ability to support a comprehensive vaccine research and development (R&D) portfolio from a health security perspective has taken on enhanced significance over the past 3 years whereby countries that had existing vaccine R&D infrastructure (G7, Russia and China) have been at the forefront of global efforts to combat COVID-19. Few countries outside of these key players have the infrastructure necessary to develop national vaccine programs, though this is beginning to change with investment across many low- and middle-income countries. These same opportunities exist for countries in Central and West Asia, and in this perspective, we highlight the existing infrastructure and expertise across seven countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) and propose opportunities for enhanced collaboration along with a bold proposal for establishing a new-build, regional vaccine translational research institute to facilitate the development of a robust, regional vaccine R&D environment to combat existing and future health challenges.