Flu vaccination postponed: Healthcare Ministry explains the reasons

Tengrinews.kz – Flu vaccination in Kazakhstan will begin later than scheduled, according to the country’s Ministry of Healthcare, which explained the reasons for the delay.

What happened?

This year, Kazakhstan purchased 2 million doses of the Russian-made Grippol+ vaccine, spending 2 billion tenge. The vaccine protects against the three most common flu strains.

In August, Kazakhstan’s Chief Sanitary Doctor, Sarkhat Beissenova, signed a decree on the prevention of flu, ARVI, and COVID-19 for the 2025–2026 season. According to the document, flu vaccinations were set to start on September 15.

“The supplier informed us that the vaccine designated for Kazakhstan will only be produced in the second half of September. Therefore, we are forced to postpone the start of the flu vaccination campaign to October 1,” said Nurshay Azimbaeva, head of the Department for Vaccine-Preventable Infections under the Committee of Sanitary and Epidemiological Control of the Ministry of Healthcare.

Possible consequences

The committee assures that the delay will not affect the effectiveness of the vaccination campaign. In Kazakhstan, flu season typically starts in October, and vaccines are usually administered in advance to develop herd immunity. However, vaccination after the season begins is still effective.

Who gets vaccinated first?

The flu vaccine will be provided free of charge at local clinics for the following high-priority groups:

• Children with chronic illnesses under regular medical supervision;
• Orphans and children without parental care;
• Elderly residents of nursing and social care homes;
• People with disabilities;
• Healthcare workers;
• High-risk individuals, including: pregnant women, military personnel, teachers, people over 65 years of age, and others.

Flu vaccinations will be administered free of charge at clinics by place of registration.