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Belarus to roll out own COVID-19 vaccine in 2023

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MINSK, 19 October (BelTA) – Belarus will roll out its own COVID-19 vaccine in 2023, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the meeting to discuss the epidemiological situation and the COVID-19 response in Belarus on 19 October, BelTA has learned.

“The experts here put it right: a vaccine is not a 100% guarantee that you will not get sick. You can get sick but COVID-19 deaths are close to zero among vaccinated,” the head of state emphasized.

Likewise, severe cases of COVID-19 are just as rare among those who got a shot.

“Thus we can assume that the vaccine works. At least we need to live through the autumn and winter until next summer. The vaccine is a great help for us here. After that we will figure out what to do. It was a smart decision of ours to develop our own vaccine that will be available in 2023. We already have it in a test tube,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

He recalled that this decision was prompted by the assumption that a completely different variant of COVID might emerge by that time. “Today we see that it is highly likely to happen. We have already survived four or five variants. Today we deal with a delta strain. Therefore, we will develop our vaccine and adapt it to the virus that will circulate in 2023,” the president said.

He emphasized that a lot has now been done to be able to produce a domestic vaccine. “There is a project. We are purchasing equipment to set up our own vaccine production plant, as in China, Russia, the United States, and in several other states. We must have our own reliable vaccine,” the head of state added.

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