Turkey grants emergency approval for Sputnik V vaccine

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca has made a statement about Russia's novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine Sputnik V.

"Emergency use of Sputnik V vaccine was approved following the assessments and evaluations by our Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency," Fahrettin Koca has announced on Twitter, which will make Russia's Sputnik V the 3rd vaccine in use in Turkey.

"It will become the third vaccine in use in Turkey against COVID-19, following China's Sinovac and the BioNTech jabs," Koca has noted.

Türkiye İlaç ve Tıbbi Cihaz Kurumumuz yaptığı inceleme ve değerlendirmeler sonunda Sputnik V aşısının acil kullanımına onay vermiştir. İki ülke için hayırlı olmasını dilerim. Böylece üçüncü aşı olarak Sputnik V aşısı da ülkemizde kullanıma girecek.

— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) April 30, 2021

Koca previously told reporters that Turkey signed an agreement to receive 50 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine over six months starting in May.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), since starting a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign in mid-January, Turkey has administered over 22.8 million jabs. More than 13.7 million people have received their first doses, while 9.1 million have been fully vaccinated. (RT/SD)