Agency Report

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday announced the emergency use approval of Turkey’s first domestically-developed coronavirus vaccine.

In June, Turkovac entered Phase III trials involving 40,800 participants in Turkey. No official data about its efficacy have been released.

But the health ministry’s coronavirus advisory board member Ates Kara told Turkish media that it was “very successful” and could be “a little better in comparison with other inactivated vaccines”.

“No individuals vaccinated with Turkovac have had a severe form of Covid-19 requiring hospitalisation or intensive care so far,” Kara was quoted as saying last weekend.

Developers said the Turkovac vaccine works along the same scientific principles as China’s CoronaVac, which Turkey has been using since the start of the year.

Turkey has officially recorded 80,000 Covid-19 deaths and 9.2 million virus infections.