In the country of Asia Minor, health workers are vaccinated first and then those over the age of 65. The vaccination can be administered by a GP after pre-registration, but also at home if justified. Around 1.1 million people work in the Turkish healthcare field. It is expected that within a month, all health care workers who have not been recently infected will receive the vaccine.
The Turkish leadership has ordered 50 million doses of CoronaVac vaccine based on the attenuated viruses from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech. The first three million doses reached the country of 83 million people at the end of December. The authorities examined the shipment and Turkish Pharmacovigilance approved the vaccine for emergency use on Wednesday. After the announcement, Turkish Health Minister Fakhruddin Kuja was the first to be vaccinated in a live TV broadcast in an Ankara hospital.
In addition to Turkey, Brazil and Indonesia are participating in the third phase of clinical testing for CoronaVac, which is still ongoing. The vaccine was first approved in Indonesia on Monday. The mass vaccination began there on Wednesday.
In December, Turkish authorities found an efficacy rate of 91.25 percent in a partial study, while in Indonesia the vaccine was found to be 65.3 percent effective. The competent Brazilian health institution reported on Tuesday that CoronaVac was only 50.38 percent effective.
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers emergency approval for a vaccine that achieves at least 50 percent efficacy acceptable. This principle is also followed by the Brazilian Health Inspectorate, Anvisa, which is awaiting more data to obtain permission, given the test result, which is just above the minimum acceptable efficacy rate.
The Chinese vaccine will be administered to the human body in two batches with an interval of 28 days. In addition to using CoronaVac, Turkey is in talks to acquire Pfizer-BioNTech and Sputnik V, among others.
Health care workers and those over the age of 65 are monitored with vaccinations over the age of fifty and those suffering from at least one chronic disease, as well as those who work in sectors essential to the functioning of society. The third group includes chronic patients under the age of fifty, youth, and workers in other sectors, while the fourth group includes all those not included in the first three.
According to the data of the Turkish Ministry of Health, Wednesday, 9,554 other cases of Coronavirus were recorded in the country last day, and the death toll reached 173.
Cover photo: Getty Images
