ISTANBUL
The second batch of COVID-19 vaccines ordered from China arrived in Turkey early Monday.
A Turkish Airlines plane that took off from Beijing landed at Istanbul Airport at 6:15 a.m. local time (03:15 GMT).
A total of 6.5 million doses of vaccine were delivered in the first phase of the second shipment of 10 million doses.
Samples of Sinovac will be tested in the laboratories of the Ministry of Health for approval before mass use.
Turkey has signed an agreement with Sinovac to buy 50 million doses to vaccinate 25 million people.
Mass vaccinations began in Turkey on January 14.
More than 1.23 million people, mainly health workers and the elderly, have been vaccinated.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were among the first to get vaccinated to boost public confidence in the vaccine.
The government has also instituted night and weekend curfews to stem the spread of COVID-19.
Since December 2019, the pandemic has killed more than 2.13 million people in 192 countries and regions.
More than 99 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now of more than 54.7 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The United States, India and Brazil remain the most affected countries in terms of cases.
* Written by Seda Sevencan
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