Three million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from China to arrive in Turkey by Dec 28

Turkish Minister Fahrettin Koca said that three million doses would arrive in the early hours of Dec. 28, adding that Turkey would vaccinate some nine million people in the first group, starting with health workers. Turkey had agreed to buy 50 million doses of Sinovac's shot and receive delivery by Dec. 11 but the shipment was delayed.

Friday December 25 2020 11:30 am

Duvar English - Reuters

Turkish Minister Fahrettin Koca said that three million doses would arrive in the early hours of Dec. 28, adding that Turkey would vaccinate some nine million people in the first group, starting with health workers.

Turkey had agreed to buy 50 million doses of Sinovac's shot and receive delivery by Dec. 11 but the shipment was delayed.

Sinovac has also signed supply deals for its vaccine, called CoronaVac, with countries including Indonesia, Brazil, Chile and Singapore, and is negotiating with the Philippines and Malaysia.

Turkish researchers said on Dec. 24 that no major side-effects were seen during the final stage of the CoronaVac trial, apart from one person who had an allergic reaction. Common adverse effects caused by the vaccine were fever, mild pain and slight fatigue, they said.

The Turkish trials began on Sept. 14 and have included more than 7,000 volunteers, the researchers said, adding the results announced on Thursday were based on data from 1,322 people.

Koca said Turkey would sign a deal with Pfizer/BioNTech for 4.5 million doses of their vaccine to be delivered by the end of March, with an option to buy a further 30 million doses later.

On Dec. 24, Turkey's death toll from the coronavirus rose by 254 to 19,115, according to Health Ministry data, while the total number of COVID-19 infections rose by 18,102.