Turkey will receive the first batch of jab, which is 91.25% effective in studies
Nurse Arzu Yildirim (center) is administering a dose of China’s Sinovac coronavirus vaccine on Monday during Phase III clinical trials at Acibadem Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. EMRAH GUREL / AP
ANKARA – Turkey will receive its first shipment of Sinovac vaccines to China against coronavirus in a few days, as preliminary domestic tests have shown that it is 91% effective, becoming the last country to welcome Chinese scientific medical discoveries.
“We are confident that the vaccine is effective and safe for the Turks,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told a news conference on Thursday.
The initial protection rate of the vaccine is 91.25% and no major side effects were observed during their study, Koca said.
The first shipment of 3 million doses of Chinese vaccine was expected to arrive in Turkey on Monday after the Turkish government signed an agreement to buy up to 50 million doses. All these doses will finally arrive in the country by the end of February.
The main group to be vaccinated will be health personnel, and the blows could be applied daily to about 1.5 million or even 2 million people, Koca said, adding that he will be among the pioneers in administering the Chinese vaccine.
In Asia, Bahrain said on December 13 that it had approved a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and launched the online registration of the vaccine for citizens and residents.
A statement from the National Health Regulatory Authority did not specify which of the two vaccines, developed by Sinopharm, received approval, but cited data from phase III clinical trials that showed an 86% efficacy rate. participated Bahrain.
Bahrain’s health ministry said in a statement on its Instagram account that citizens and residents over the age of 18 can register online to receive the free vaccine.
The quoted data were the same as those announced earlier this month by the United Arab Emirates in an interim analysis of late-stage clinical trials for an inactivated vaccine developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, a unit of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group or CNBG.
Malaysia said the government is now in final negotiations with Chinese producers Sinovac and CanSino to secure vaccine doses to cover more of its population.
“A historic day”
In Latin America, the Brazilian state’s Butantan Institute announced on Wednesday that the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac in China has reached levels of efficacy against the coronavirus required by the World Health Organization in studies with 13,000 Brazilian volunteers.
The data confirmed that the vaccine is “the safest on the market” and achieved the superiority in efficacy required by the WHO and the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa), said Dimas Covas, director of the institute.
“We have reached the level of efficacy that allows us to apply for emergency vaccine registration both here and in China,” Covas said.
“It is a historic day for Brazilian science because of the hope it brings to Brazilians.”
The Brazilian Ministry of Health also expects to have at least 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines available in the first half of 2021, with a third or more coming from Sinovac.
Arnaldo Medeiros, a Health Ministry official, said on Tuesday that an initial agreement to purchase 46 million doses of the vaccine developed by Sinovac could soon be expanded to 100 million doses.
In Mexico, a coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese company CanSino Biologics will be presented on Tuesday for examination by Mexican health regulator Cofepris for its application, said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.
In Africa, Egypt received the first batch of Chinese coronavirus vaccine on December 11 to help fight the COVID-19 epidemic.
Priority in the distribution of the vaccine would be given to medical staff in isolated hospitals, people with chronic diseases such as cancer and kidney failure, and the elderly, free of charge, said Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed.
“This is a historic day to receive the first air shipments of China’s coronavirus vaccine,” Zayed said at a news conference at Cairo International Airport.
Xinhua – Agencies
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