BioNTech

Turkey this week is moving to a new normalization phase in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Minister Fahrettion Koca previously said that the Health Ministry's Science Board was working on plans on how to proceed toward normalization after June 1.

The EU's drug watchdog on May 28 approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus jab for 12 to 15-year-olds, the first vaccine to get the green light for children in the bloc.

The vaccine was "well tolerated" in adolescents and there were no "major concerns" in terms of side effects, the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency said.

Bulgaria's caretaker Health Minister Stoicho Katsarov issued an order on May 28 that general practitioners may also administer vaccinations against Covid-19 to those not on their lists of patients.

The Health Ministry said in a media statement that the order had been communicated to the regional health inspectorates, which must notify the medical establishments in their districts.

Turkey might effectively bring the pandemic under control around October if vaccinations gather momentum during summer, with 120 million doses of mRNA jabs promised to be delivered to the country, according to Professor Serap Şimşek Yavuz, a member of the Health Ministry's Science Board.

Turkey is ramping up its vaccination drive to include more risk and age groups to the jab program as the country is seeking to move to a normalization phase this summer.

People aged above 50 will start being given COVID-19 jabs as of June 1 and the inoculation of people with disabilities has already begun, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

Ljubljana – After Slovenia’s vaccination centres reported they had been receiving fewer Covid-19 vaccines this week than they have ordered, the national vaccination logistics coordinator said on Wednesday that more doses would be available in June, and that a major shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine was expected this Friday.

A vaccination marathon will be organized, between May 28-30, at the headquarters of the National Authority for Quality Management in Health (ANMCS), headquartered in Splaiul Independentei nr. 202 A, Sector 6. Anyone will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 without scheduling, the authority said in a statement. The Pfizer-BioNTech serum will be administered during the marathon.

Within the scope of its massive vaccination program, Turkey aims to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 by the fall this year, the daily Hürriyet reported on May 25.

Some players of the Turkish national football team were vaccinated for the novel coronavirus on May 22.

A total of 11 players, including Altay Bayındır, Rıdvan Yılmaz and Umut Meras, received their second doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Serik State Hospital in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.

Turkey will administer 30 million doses of the Pzifer/BioNTech vaccines to 30 million people in June, the country's health minister has said.

The country is expected to receive those doses at the end of May or in early June.