COVID-19 vaccine

Türkiye will be one of four countries that can produce a hepatitis A vaccine, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, as he inaugurated a new vaccine production facility in the Turkish capital.

Turkish scientists Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, the co-founders of BioNTech, have announced that their cancer vaccine has succeeded in halting tumor growth and reducing its size in their initial tests.

EU regulators have recommended authorizing an updated Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech which targets the dominant XBB.1.5 variant of Omicron, putting it on track to become the third adapted shot  by the two companies to be approved in the bloc.

Scientists are debating whether or not to provide an additional dose of the Covid-19 vaccination to members of vulnerable groups in the fall.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said it plans a cost-cutting operation if its co-developed with BioTech COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral treatment for the coronavirus continue to underperform in the coming months due to falling demand.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) recommend considering a second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 60 to 79 years and those in a state of health that makes them exposed to a high risk of acute diseases.

With COVID-19 numbers rising again, Health Ministry opened up booster shot appointments in an effort to increase dropping the number of infections.

One of BioNTech, Sinovac or Turkovac vaccines can be chosen for the booster shot, which will be the sixth dose for those aged 65 and over and also those in risky groups.

With the number of weekly coronavirus infections, which was 26,635 last week, having surpassed 57,000, experts once again warn citizens to get their booster shots if six to eight months have passed since the final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Scientists Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, a Turkish-German couple who are the cofounders of BioNTech, the first effective COVID-19 vaccine that saved millions of lives, have said they are planning to start clinical studies in Türkiye next year under the BioNTech brand.

Nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached, researchers have reported.