After a recent incident involving an alleged shortage of rabies vaccine, citizens reported a new problem to the editorial office. According to readers, after a tick bite, the children's emergency room told them that immunoglobulin against tick-borne encephalitis is unavailable in the city, reports infohub.kz.
The family was admitted to the emergency department on Manas Street: the tick was removed, the wound was treated. However, according to the certificate issued, 'the vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis is not available.'
According to the person who contacted us, after calling the 1312 service, they also confirmed that the drug is unavailable in Almaty.
For comment, the editorial office contacted the single distributor in Kazakhstan responsible for purchasing, storing, and free delivery of medicines to public healthcare institutions.
'Regarding the provision of patients with immunoglobulin against tick-borne encephalitis, for 2026 the Almaty Public Health Department requested 13.97 liters of the drug. The distributor purchased and shipped the entire requested volume back in March. Contractual obligations to the customer have been fully fulfilled,' SK-Pharmacy reported.
The company added that in June, an additional one liter of immunoglobulin was urgently transferred to Almaty from the Zhetysu region, but that volume was completely used.
They also explained that additional batches could not be purchased yet. As noted by SK-Pharmacy, the manufacturer warned back in spring that the drug was out of stock, so it is impossible to supply it under the current contract.
Currently, the single distributor said, work is underway on an additional supply. A preliminary agreement has been reached to import another 14 liters of immunoglobulin. If the paperwork for permits proceeds without delays, the drug is scheduled to be delivered by the end of July.