Clinical trials

Turkey is closely following developments in the wake of the emergence of the new COVID-19 strain, Omicron, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, adding that the current situation does not necessitate taking additional measures.

He recalled that Turkey immediately acted after the new variant was detected in the world and imposed travel bans on certain countries.

The number of coronavirus vaccinations in the world has exceeded 8 billion. More than half of them (4.16 billion) are in three countries - China (2.5 billion), India (1.2 billion) and the United States (0.46 billion).

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the time had come for the European Union to consider mandatory vaccination of the entire population, Euronews reports.

The World Health Organization has no data that there is a reduction in effectiveness of existing coronavirus vaccines following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

The EU Could Approve a Vaccine against Omicron in 3-4 Months

Turkey is not presently considering imposing lockdowns or other stricter measures despite the emergence of the new COVID-19 strain, Omicron, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, renewing calls for the public to get vaccinated and adhere to basic anti-virus rules, noting that millions of people are still not fully protected.

The European drug regulator announced on Tuesday that it would approve vaccines adapted to Covid's new version, Omicron, within three to four months if necessary, but existing drugs would continue to provide protection, Reuters reported.

The new vaccine was created in Melbourne within five months by Monash University researchers

Ljubljana – A commission appointed to examine the death of a 20-year-old woman following her vaccination with the Janssen vaccine in September has unanimously assessed that the death was “definitely connected” with the vaccination.

The head of drugmaker Moderna said Covid-19 vaccines were unlikely to be as effective against the coronavirus Omicron variant as before, raising new concerns in financial markets about the trajectory of the pandemic, Reuters reported.

BioNTech has begun work on a vaccine specifically for the new variant of the coronavirus Omicron, which was first identified in South Africa.

The development of an adapted vaccine is part of the standard procedure.

The first steps for a possible new vaccine are carried out in parallel with the assessment of whether one will be needed after the advent of Omicron.