Turkey begins countdown to COVID-19 vaccination drive

By Mehmet Tosun

ANKARA (AA) – A China-made vaccine for COVID-19 will be administered in Turkey in only a matter of days.

The Sinovac vaccine will be administered first and foremost to health care workers starting from the end of December.

Speaking after meeting with Turkey's coronavirus task force, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca shared the detailed plan based on which 50 million doses of the vaccine will be administered.

The first batch of 20 million doses will be received in December and January. The second batch of 10 million doses will arrive in February.

Turkey is open to procuring vaccines from other companies after February. The country needs a total of 100 million doses within three months.

Turkish officials are in touch with Pfizer and AstraZeneca for procuring the vaccines.

If studies prove the Russian vaccine to be safe, then it could also be an option.

Turkey wants to receive the maximum amount of doses as soon as possible to create herd immunity.

- Sinovac vaccine

The Sinovac vaccine has cleared phase-3 trials and has proven safe for commercial usage.

The first of the 3 million doses will reach Turkey in three to four days.

Public health laboratories and the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency laboratories will evaluate the vaccines for about a fortnight.

The Health Ministry will grant a permit for early use if the vaccines are found to be in line with the country’s standards.

Turkey is planning to carry out COVID-19 vaccination in four stages.

The vaccine will be administered in two doses, 14 to 21 days apart, free-of-cost for all Turkish citizens.

Being vaccinated will not be mandatory for now and Turkey is aiming to convince its citizens into making mass vaccination possible.

Pregnant women, citizens under the age of 18, and those who have recovered from the virus within the past six months, will be exempted.

Those who have been vaccinated will be registered by the health institutions in their database.

The priority list for the vaccination drive is currently being worked upon by the country's COVID-19 task force.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan