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A doctor prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in an ambulance parked on a main street as his colleagues make a public announcement to convince people to get vaccinated amid an increase in COVID-19 cases in Diyarbakir, Turkey, July 27, 2021. Photo taken July 27, 2021. REUTERS / Sertac Kayar
ISTANBUL, Aug. 16 (Reuters) – Turkey is allowing people who have been inoculated with the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine (SVA.O) to take an additional dose of Pfizer (PFE.N) as it appears to make travel to the countries that have not approved the Chinese vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday.
Turkey has administered 83 million COVID-19 vaccines, mainly Sinovac’s Coronavac and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. In the first few weeks, he used exclusively the Chinese vaccine, which has not been approved in some Western countries.
Authorities began giving a third dose to health workers and people over the age of 50 last month, as studies showed that the antibodies triggered by Sinovac’s vaccine decreased after about six months.
More than six million of those booster doses have been given, and the ministry said on Monday that people who received a booster dose of Pfizer could receive a second injection of Pfizer if needed to travel.
The ministry also said it was starting to vaccinate people over 15, and children over 12 with chronic illnesses would also be eligible.
Reporting by Yesim Dikmen; Written by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Anil D’Silva
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