Turkey’s COVID-19 vaccination goes on at full speed

ANKARA

Turkey’s COVID-19 vaccination performance has surpassed many other countries that have been practicing vaccination for weeks.

Since Jan. 13, when the first vaccination was conducted, over 800,000 health personnel have been vaccinated against the virus in Turkey and vaccination efforts continue without a pause, especially for prioritized groups.

According to the data compiled by Anadolu Agency, the first batch of Chinese Sinovac firm's CoronoVac arrived in Turkey on Dec. 30, 2020.

The vaccines were transferred from Esenboga Airport of the capital Ankara to the Health Ministry's drug and vaccination storage which was boosted with a temperature control system, generators, and backup systems.

The analysis process was initiated by the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency through controlling of randomly picked samples in labs.

The vaccines were distributed to the provincial drug storages by special vehicles with relevant air-conditioning, once analyses proved successful.

As CoronaVac was granted emergency use approval, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and members of the Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board became the first people to be vaccinated on Jan. 13.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also vaccinated the following day in Ankara City Hospital.

On Jan. 14, in line with priority group principles, vaccination of health employees started in Turkey and a total of 285,000 of them got vaccinated on the first day the drive.

So far, more than 800,000 health staff have been vaccinated in Turkey.

Minister Koca said Turkey had the ability to apply 1.5-2 million vaccines per day.

EU's vaccination

The course of the vaccination process in the EU, which began in late December, is not living up to the expectations.

Although BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were granted approval and distributed among the EU countries, the targeted number of vaccines was not achieved due to a lack of personnel and logistical problems.

Italy, one of the countries which suffered the most fatalities, launched vaccination on Dec. 27. According to Italian authorities, the count of vaccination stands at 1.15 million as of Jan. 17.

Italy has used 81.9% of its 1,408,875 doses of vaccines, while 850,000 vaccines were applied for health employees who are in the priority group.

Although Italy has applied vaccines more than any other EU country, domestic political figures criticize the slowness of the immunization process.

Germany launched its immunization campaign on Dec. 26 and 1.05 million people have been vaccinated as of Jan. 15.

Spain, which started vaccinations on Dec. 27, has vaccinated 768,950 people by Jan. 15. Spain's vaccination efforts are conducted through healthcare personnel of 17 autonomous administrations in coordination with the Health Ministry.

A total of 422,127 people in France have been vaccinated as of Jan. 17, according to the figures released by the country's Health Ministry.

Official figures of the Netherlands indicate that 55,000 doses of vaccines have been used in the country on Jan. 6-17, while Belgium has vaccinated 96,402 people from Dec. 28 to Jan. 16.

140 vaccines per minute in UK

The UK started its process on Dec. 8 and 3.8 million people have been vaccinated as of Jan. 17.

The government announced that it was planning to vaccinate citizens in risky groups, including the elderly and chronically sick people, until Feb. 15.

The British Health Ministry authorities say the country conducted 140 vaccines per minute and vaccination of people over 70 years old or those with serious health conditions would start as of Monday.

The vaccination of health employees and those over 80 years old was prioritized by British authorities in the initial phase.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas.