Turkey reveals priority groups for COVID-19 vaccine administration
Turkey's Health Ministry will prioritize the administration of COVID-19 vaccines among four groups, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Dec. 3. The first-priority group involves health workers and senior citizens above 65.
Duvar English
Turkey's Health Ministry has created four priority groups for the administration of the COVID-19 vaccines that are expected to arrive in the country on Dec. 11, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a written statement on Dec. 3.
The first priority group includes health workers, senior citizens above 65, and adults who live in communal residences like nursing homes and shelters.
The second tier includes workers who are employed in high-risk or essential industries, along with citizens above 50 who have at least one chronic illness that puts them at greater risk against COVID-19.
The third-priority group will involve anyone with a chronic illness under 50, young adults and workers who weren't in the second class, while the fourth group will encompass everyone else.
Ankara has already signed to receive supply of the Chinese-manufactured Sinovac vaccine, which Minister Koca noted was an inactive virus vaccine.
Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing for an mRNA vaccine, like the one developed for BioNTech-Pfizer by Turkish scientists Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin.