Sinovac

The Turkish Health Ministry's Science Board is currently working on plans as to when a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine should start to be given to those who have already received two doses of the jab.

The sanitary regulator of Brazil suspended the use of just over 12.1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by the Chinese company Sinovac after knowing that the vials containing the vaccines were filled on an unauthorized production base.

Turkey is planning to offer a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines starting from October to people who have already had two shots of the jab.

The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab were administered in April and the second doses in June. According to plans under consideration, the third dose of the vaccine will start to be given in November.

Turkey has started to administer its homegrown COVID-19 vaccine candidate to volunteers at a major hospital in the capital Ankara as part of the jab's Phase 3 clinical trials to compare its efficacy to that of the Chinese-developed CoronaVac shot, the country's top health official announced on July 16. 

People who receive a COVID vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech produce 10 times more antibodies than those who opted for Sinovac's CoronaVac, a Chinese drug. This was reported on Friday, July 16 by South China Morning Post with reference to relevant research.

Despite the success of the ongoing vaccination program, COVID-19 cases are on the rise, but presently there is no need to impose restrictions, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said.

Data from the Health Ministry show that the daily virus cases inched up above 6,000 cases over the last couple of days after plateauing to around 5,000 in the past weeks.

Interim results from a phase 3 trial in Turkey have shown that two doses of CoronaVac, a vaccine developed by the Chinese firm Sinovac, are 83.5 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19.

Jabs administered in Turkey against COVID-19 are valid for vaccine certificates in the countries Ankara has agreements with for the reciprocal recognition of those certificates, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said.

Turkey is planning to start administering a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in July while hoping to fully inoculate 70 percent of the population by the end of September.

Turkey's COVID-19 vaccine candidate has reached its final stage of human trials, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said as the country is gearing up to give a boost to its inoculation drive.