Pfizer

Vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusals appear to be main stumbling blocks in achieving herd immunity, an expert has said.

Around 8.6 million people in Turkey have skipped their second and third doses of the vaccines against COVID-19, the country's health minister has said.

"You need to get your shots on time if we are to benefit more from power of the vaccinations," Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter on Nov. 11, urging people to stick to the vaccination program.

Ο διευθύνων σύμβουλος της Pfizer παρέλαβε βραβείο σε τελετή στην Ουάσινγκτον

Turkey will offer booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to all its citizens aged 18 and older starting on Nov. 11, the country's Health Minister has announced.

Speaking after the Health Ministry's Science Board meeting held on Nov. 11, Fahrettin Koca reminded that the country was already giving the third dose of the vaccine to those who are aged above 60.

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer has asked the US Food and Drug Administration to allow the third dose of Covid-19 vaccine for anyone over 18 years of age.

The argument is that more protection is needed and that there is a danger of increasing the spread of the virus with holiday trips and gatherings.

Pfizer UK managing director Ben Osborne said on Tuesday that the pharmaceutical company's Covid-19 drug, Paxlovid, could be available in the UK "very early in 2022".

Meanwhile, Merck's coronavirus pill, Molnupiravir, will be released as part of a UK trial in late November.

Tests of experimental antiviral treatment against COVID-19 by the American company "Pfizer" (Pfizer) in the form of a pill have proved so promising that they have been shortened. The reason is that it reduced by 89% the risk of hospitalization or death in adults at risk of developing a severe form of the disease.

Turkey's vaccination drive needs to be accelerated in order to reach herd immunity, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said. 

Turkey's health minister announced on Nov. 3 that the country will start administering booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to people who received their second doses at least six months ago.

In a written statement following a meeting of the country's medical advisory council, Fahrettin Koca said the booster shots would be administered as of Thursday.

The US health authorities have approved the use of the COVID-19 vaccine by BioNTech / Pfizer for children between 5 and 11 years of age. The first doses may be given on Wednesday, Reuters reported.