Ankara, Nov 19 (Agency) Turkey will sign a contract in the coming days to purchase 10 million doses of Covid vaccine from the Chinese company SinoVac in December, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday. “We want to purchase at least 10 million doses of Chinese vaccine in December, the contract will be signed within one-two days. Negotiations are also underway with Pfizer, which can deliver up to 25 million doses of vaccines to Turkey,” Koca said, as cited by the TRT state broadcaster.
The minister added that there are currently 16 vaccine candidates under development in Turkey. Notably, in late September, China’s Sinovac drugmaker announced that Turkey, along with Brazil and Indonesia would have access to CoronaVac vaccine at the same time as China, as it is undergoing the Phase 3 clinical trials in those countries. Sinovac began the development of its vaccine in January. Phases 1 and 2 of clinical trials were held in April, the third is underway. The company expects the Corona vaccine to enter markets by the end of 2020.