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dpa
Istanbul
Turkey started vaccinating health care employees against Covid-19 on Thursday using the Chinese-developed Sinovac jab.
More than 200,000 people have already received the shot, according to health ministry website.
Turkey’s medical agency granted emergency approval for use of Sinovac late on Wednesday. Shortly after, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca received the first dose at a hospital in Ankara, followed by members of Turkey’s Science Council.
Turkey plans inoculation of people over the age of 65 to follow.
In the second phase, employees at the ministries of defence, interior and justice as well as teachers, academics and inmates are scheduled to get vaccinated.
Turkey received 3 million doses of the Chinese-made vaccine in late December and tests showed the jab is “sufficiently safe,” Koca said on Wednesday.
Turkey, which has a population of 83 million, has so far reported a total of 2.35 million infections and more than 23,000 deaths.
The country has in total ordered 50 million doses of the Chinese vaccine and plans to purchase additional doses from German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in December that he will receive the vaccine too, calling on the public to follow suit.
Istanbul
Turkey started vaccinating health care employees against Covid-19 on Thursday using the Chinese-developed Sinovac jab.
More than 200,000 people have already received the shot, according to health ministry website.
Turkey’s medical agency granted emergency approval for use of Sinovac late on Wednesday. Shortly after, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca received the first dose at a hospital in Ankara, followed by members of Turkey’s Science Council.
Turkey plans inoculation of people over the age of 65 to follow.
In the second phase, employees at the ministries of defence, interior and justice as well as teachers, academics and inmates are scheduled to get vaccinated.
Turkey received 3 million doses of the Chinese-made vaccine in late December and tests showed the jab is “sufficiently safe,” Koca said on Wednesday.
Turkey, which has a population of 83 million, has so far reported a total of 2.35 million infections and more than 23,000 deaths.
The country has in total ordered 50 million doses of the Chinese vaccine and plans to purchase additional doses from German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in December that he will receive the vaccine too, calling on the public to follow suit.
