NUR-SUTAN -- Authorities in Kazakhstan have labelled all regions of the Central Asian nation as "red zones” as they are facing a new wave of coronavirus infections.
Health Minister Aleksei Tsoi said on August 11 that 7,657 new COVID-19 cases were registered in Kazakhstan in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total official number of infections to more than 656,000, with over 7,100 deaths.
Tsoi also said that 99.9 percent of the people who tested positive had not been vaccinated against the virus.
For its vaccination campaign, Kazakhstan uses mainly shots of the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine produced either in Russia or the Kazakh city of Qaraghandy.
The Financial Control Agency said on August 11 that investigations were launched against several medical personnel in the cities of Almaty, Aqtobe, Pavlodar, Shymkent, and Taraz, on suspicion of forging and selling vaccination certificates to 37 individuals.