NUR-SULTAN: Kazakhstan on Monday rolled out its homegrown coronavirus vaccine, with the Central Asian country’s health minister receiving the jab on live television.

QazCovid-in, also known as QazVac, is a two-shot vaccine that is currently in third stage trials. The state broadcaster Khabar said that 50,000 doses of the vaccine developed by the state-backed Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems have been distributed across the vast oil-rich country.

Health Minister Alexei Tsoi told Khabar that he felt “well” after receiving his shot and said the government was negotiating with partners in Turkey to produce future batches of the vaccine.