ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) NKANKARA (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) RANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) , December 3 (Sputnik) � The first batch of the coronavirus vaccine purchased by ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) nkara will arrive in Turkey after December 11, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said.
According to earlier statements of the Turkish Health Ministry, Ankara wants to buy 10 million doses of vaccine from the Chinese company SinoVac. Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the country wanted to start the mass vaccination in December.
"The first batch of the purchased vaccines will be delivered after December 11. Following that, they will be studied in laboratories, whether they comply with the safety standards. In case of a positive result, we will authorize their use in practice," Koca told reporters on late Wednesday.
The minister stressed that the vaccination would be carried out in four stages.
"At the first stage, medical workers, people aged over 65 years and the disabled will be vaccinated. At the second stage, people of socially important jobs and those aged over 50 years, who have at least one chronic disease, will be vaccinated. At the third stage, people with at least one chronic disease younger than 50 years [will be vaccinated]; at the fourth stage, everyone outside the first three groups will get vaccines," Koca added.
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 64.3 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 1.48 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Turkey has confirmed more than 700,000 coronavirus cases so far, with over 14,000 deaths.
