As Turkey continues its battle against the pandemic, the country is also intensifying its efforts to introduce its locally produced vaccine, TurkicWorld reports citing Daily Sabah.
“We want to keep all the schools open until the end of this year,” professor Ilhami Çelik, a member of Turkey’s Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, said in a statement on Sunday, emphasizing the country’s vaccination efforts and informing the public that the locally developed Turkovac vaccine will conclude its Phase 3 trials soon.
Speaking during an event in central Anatolian Kayseri province, Çelik said that emergency use approval will be granted to Turkovac depending on the results of its Phase 3 trials.
“This is an obligation during such times. You cannot wait 15 years for a vaccine during a pandemic,” he said.
“Therefore, safety is very important in Phases 1 and 2. First, the vaccines are given to a small group then to thousands of people, enabling us to see its adverse effects and recognize its safety. We are doing this quickly,” Çelik added.
Turkovac, previously known as ERUCOV-VAC before President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan renamed it, was developed in seven months by a team of scientists led by professor Aykut Özdarendeli. It started its Phase 1 trials in November 2020. Phase 2 trials began on Feb. 10, and as yet no side effects have been reported among volunteers.
