Turkey is now considered one of the few countries that has developed their own COVID-19 vaccine. The country recently joined :
- Russia, which made the Sputnik V vaccine,
- Cuba, which made the Soberana vaccine and Abdala vaccine,
- Brazil, which made BhutanVac,
- India, which made Corbevax,
- Iran, which made CovIran Berekat and Razi Cov Pars.
- South Africa, which made mRNA.
The Republic of Turkey is producing its vaccine against coronavirus that is taking the name of Turkovac in collaboration with the Health Ministry's Turkish Health Institutes and Erciyes University in the Kayseri province, the country is also planning to create a vaccine biotechnology "base" that will be taking place in the capital Ankara and will be operational by the end of 2022.
150,000 shots were already delivered before the end of 2021 to the General Directorate of Public Health, and their analysis is being carried out, according to the researcher Erhan Akdogan.
Turkey was already conducting joint scientific studies with foreign countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan for clinical studies of the Turkovac vaccine, and the preparations were completed to transmit the Turkish Turkovac vaccine to Azerbaijan a couple of weeks ago for the purpose of making a scientific research platform.
The country is working hard on raising its profile when it comes to its health care industry, and it's making all the effort to be self-reliant by making both vaccine and biotechnology centres that are currently in their final stages, and the aim is to be fully equipped it with smart technology.
However, Turkey accepts all the vaccines approved by the WHO and the Ministry of Health of the Turkish Republic (single dose for Johnson and Johnson) and a minimum of 14 days have passed since the last dose when it comes to its travelling entry restrictions. The country is also open for foreigners wishing to get vaccinated in Turkey.
Turkey started working on the development of its vaccine during the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the rest of the world was facing struggles and scrambling to secure vaccine supplies. It was a crucial process for many countries to produce their own vaccine.
What vaccine can you get in Turkey?
After administering than 130 million doses of vaccine shots developed by China's Sinovac and by Pfizer/BioNTech, Turkey is making its own homemade vaccine available for unvaccinated people and booster shot doses.
Everyone can choose the vaccine they would like to have: BioNTech, Pfizer vaccine, CoronaVac vaccine, Sputnik V vaccine, and the new Turkovac are now all available in hospitals for people wishing to get their dose.
The eligibility to receive a vaccine for foreigners depends on their living status in the country.
Anyone holding a residency card or, identity card can be given a shot by going through the same process as Turkish citizens.
More information can be found in the life: Life Fits Home application.
Vaccination in the Istanbul Airport
The Health Ministry stated that all Turkish citizens that are wishing to get the Covid-19 vaccination at the Istanbul Airport, regardless of whether they're arriving or departing from Turkey, will be able to get their doses for free with no charges.
There is a whole team in charge of taking care of this procedure of Turkish passengers at the Istanbul Airport, 7days a week from 09:00 AM- 05:00 PM.
All the passengers have to do is to get into the e-Pulse system and fill in the mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Application Information and Consent Form" that the vaccination center provides.
More information is provided in the vaccination center of the Istanbul Airport.
