Effectiveness of Four Vaccines in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Kazakhstan
Authors: Nabirova Dilyara , Horth Roberta , Smagul Manar , Nukenova Gaukhar , Yesmagambetova Aizhan , Singer Daniel , Henderson Alden , Tsoy Alexey 
Published: April 2022

BACKGROUND

In February 2021 Kazakhstan began offering COVID-19 vaccines to adults. Breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections raised concerns about real-world vaccine effectiveness. We aimed to evaluate effectiveness of four vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis among adults in Almaty using aggregated vaccination data and individual-level breakthrough COVID-19 cases (≥14 days from 2nd dose) using national surveillance data. We ran time-adjusted Cox-proportional-hazards model with sensitivity analysis accounting for varying entry into vaccinated cohort to assess vaccine effectiveness for each vaccine (measured as 1-adjusted hazard ratios) using the unvaccinated population as reference (N=565,390). We separately calculated daily cumulative hazards for COVID-19 breakthrough among vaccinated persons by age and vaccine month.

RESULTS

From February 22 to Sept 1, 2021 in Almaty, 747,558 (57%) adults were fully vaccinated (received 2 doses) and 108,324 COVID-19 cases (11,472 breakthrough) were registered. Vaccine effectiveness against infection was 78% (sensitivity estimates: 74–82%) for QazVac, 77% (72– 81%) for Sputnik V, 71% (69–72%) for Hayat-Vax, and 69% (64–72%) for CoronaVac. Among vaccinated persons, the 90-day follow-up cumulative hazard for breakthrough infection was 2.2%. Cumulative hazard was 2.9% among people aged ≥60 years versus 1.9% among persons aged 18–39 years (p<0.001), and 1.2% for people vaccinated in February–May versus 3.3% in June–August (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our analysis demonstrates high effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against infection in Almaty similar to other observational studies. Higher cumulative hazard of breakthrough among people >60 years of age and during variant surges warrants targeted booster vaccination campaigns.

What is already known on this topic

Plenty of data are published on effectiveness of mRNA vaccines; however, these vaccines were not widely available in many low- and middle-income countries in 2021.

There are no real-world effectiveness studies on several vaccines available in the Central Asia region, including QazVac vaccine, an inactivated vaccine developed by Kazakhstan.

Understanding how these vaccines are performing outside of clinical trials is critical for the COVID-19 response and lack of published data can contribute to vaccine hesitancy.

What this study adds

Our study demonstrated that at the population-level the four vaccines against COVID-19 used in Kazakhstan were effective at preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Vaccination reduced the risk of infection by 76% and prevented over 100,000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Almaty, the country’s most populous city.

This is also the first study that demonstrated high vaccine effectiveness in real-world conditions of QazVac, developed in Kazakhstan.

How this study might affect research, practice or policy

Policy makers in Kazakhstan and the Central Asia region need data on vaccines provided in the region to update evidence-based vaccine guidelines for different populations.