Turkish hospital joins human trials of Chinese vaccine

Another Turkish hospital on Wednesday joined trials of a Chinese vaccine against the novel coronavirus in the capital Ankara.

Ankara City Hospital's coordinator chief physician, Dr. Aziz Ahmet Surel, was among the first of the volunteers to be administered a dose of the vaccine.

The facility was the second in Ankara to take part in the efforts which are also ongoing in hospitals in Istanbul, as well as the northwestern province of Kocaeli, said a statement by the Health Ministry.

It added that Turkey was taking part in clinical efforts related to vaccines produced in different countries and have reached the Phase 3 level in human trials.

Vaccination is the only hope to end the virus outbreak, Surel said. "When the vaccine is developed, both our society and the rest of the world will have gained serious protection."

"Our hospital is one of the links in the [...] testing process of a vaccine that has now reached the stage of human testing," he added.

Voluntary vaccine trials are being conducted in 25 centers across Turkey. If the Phase 3 trials are successful, the vaccine is expected to be ready for use at the beginning of 2021.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than a million lives in 188 countries and regions since last December. The US, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 35.85 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries surpassing 25 million, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.