CHP questions fate of 50 million doses of Chinese vaccine

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) spokesperson Faik Öztrak has criticized the government for not meeting the vaccination targets announced for Turkey.

“The whole world completed their agreements for vaccines last year,” but Turkey failed to make necessary arrangements timely, Öztrak said at a press conference on May 7.

He questioned the 50 million doses of Chinese vaccine that were previously announced to arrive in Turkey by February and said half of the agreed doses were not delivered to Turkey.

He asked if the authorities have launched necessary investigations for the terms of the agreement made with the supply company.

In November, Turkey signed a contract to buy 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said.

At least 10 million doses of the Chinese vaccine would be delivered in December, but the target was to receive some 20 million doses and another 20 million doses in January and at least 10 million doses would be received in February, Koca stated in November.

Turkey has inked agreements for a total of 240 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines developed by the Chinese firm Sinovac, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Russia’s Sputnik V, Koca said earlier, noting that this is three times the country’s population.

To date, Turkey has signed deals for 100 million doses of the Chinese, 90 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, and another 50 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccines.