Turkey expecting 6.5M CoronaVac doses on Monday
- Türkiye
- Anadolu Agency
- Published Date: 03:00 | 24 January 2021
- Modified Date: 03:00 | 24 January 2021
As many as 6.5 million doses of China's CoronaVac vaccine will be delivered to Turkey on Monday, 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 Sunday.
Mass vaccinations began in Turkey on Jan. 14 after the first batch of 3 million doses of the vaccine developed by China's SinoVac Biotech arrived on Dec. 30. Later, a second consignment of 10 million doses was approved.
Over 1.23 million people, mostly health workers and elderly people, have been inoculated since Jan. 14.
The health minister and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were among the first ones to be vaccinated to boost public confidence in the vaccine.
The government has also introduced nighttime and weekend curfews to stem the spread of COVID-19.