Sinovac Biotech

The number of people in Turkey who have received their first doses of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus crossed the 2.5 million mark as of Feb. 4, according to official figures.

In Turkey's mass vaccination campaign, under which health professionals are administering jabs of CoronaVac purchased from Chinese company Sinovac, immunization efforts are running smoothly.

The number of people who have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has crossed the 2-million mark in Turkey.

The country, with a population of 83 million, rolled out its inoculation program on Jan. 17. Mostly health care professionals and the elderly have been administered the jab which Turkey secured from the Chinese firm Sinovac.

The second shipment of the second batch of COVID-19 vaccines ordered from China arrived early on Jan. 29 in Turkey.

A Turkish Airlines plane that departed from Beijing landed at Istanbul Airport at 6.10 a.m. local time (0310GMT) carrying the 3.5 million doses of the vaccine.

A total of 10 million doses of the vaccine were imported in the second batch.

The number of people in Turkey who have received their first dose of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus crossed the 1.5 million mark as of Janç 27, according to official figures.

In week two of Turkey's mass vaccination campaign, in which it is administering CoronaVac jabs purchased from Chinese company SinoVac, immunization efforts are running smoothly, officials say.

A plane carrying the second batch of a COVID-19 vaccine ordered from China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd. arrived early on Jan. 25 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 plane, which departed from Beijing, landed at Istanbul Airport at 6.15 a.m. local time (0315 GMT).

As many as 6.5 million doses of China's CoronaVac vaccine will be delivered to Turkey on Jan. 25, the country's health minister has announced.

"In line with our purchasing plan, the vaccine shipments to Turkey will continue smoothly," Fahrettin Koca tweeted on Jan. 24.

A health worker prepares to vaccinate a colleague against COVID-19 with Sinovac's Coronavac vaccine at the Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, 14 January 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

Some health experts have warned that the effectiveness of these vaccines is still not fully researched, and note that their delivery dates are also still uncertain.

Health and medical experts have hailed vaccines as being one of the major achievements in the fight against COVID-19, but the number of people refusing to get vaccinated has increased over the course of the pandemic despite the fact that they can prevent the spread of the highly infectious virus.

Turkey's vaccination campaign is proceeding to its next step, focusing on the very elderly and those in institutional care, the country's health minister said on Jan. 18. 

"As of tomorrow [Tuesday], we will start the vaccination of people staying in care and nursing homes, and of those caring for them," Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

Over 650,000 health care workers in Turkey have received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the first three days of the vaccination campaign in the country.

Turkey started administering the CoronaVac vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech company to health care staff on Jan. 14.

The first batch of 3 million doses of the vaccine arrived in Turkey on Dec. 30.