Turkey plans to start vaccinations at nursing homes this week

ANKARA

Turkey plans to start vaccinating nearly 90,000 residents and workers at care and nursing homes and disabled care facilities against COVID-19 this week, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Authorities are also hoping to complete administering the first dose of the virus jab to the country’s more than 1 million health care professionals this week.

Health care workers started to receive their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine CoronaVac developed by Chinese firm Sinovac on Jan. 14 immediately after the country’s official drug and medical equipment body approved the injection for emergency use.

The coronavirus injections are administered in two doses, 28 days apart.

After the inoculation of health care workers, the next move in the jab drive will be the vaccination of residents of care and nursing homes and disabled care facilities.

The process to vaccinate residents and workers in official and private communal residences affiliated with the Family, Labor and Social Services Ministry has already been initiated, according to the news agency.

The ministry had asked all such institutions to complete the necessary preparations earlier.

Works on setting up special vaccination rooms at those facilities have been completed and the detailed health reports of those who will get the shot are made ready.

It is expected that 18,450 personnel in official and private care homes, 30,000 disabled people, 14,470 personnel and 24,200 elderly people in official and private nursing homes will get vaccinated with the first dose in a week’s time after the process is initiated.

They will be vaccinated at the facilities they are residing in or where they work.

This priority group will be followed by people aged 65 and over.

Turkey with a population of more than 83 million will carry out its massive inoculation program in four stages.

In the second stage of the injection drive, essential workers and those with at least one chronic disease will be vaccinated, while the third step of the inoculation drive will cover citizens under the age of 50 with at least one chronic disease and young adults.

The rest of the population will get the shot in the final stage. Those who recovered from COVID-19 will not be vaccinated for up to six months following their recovery.

The first batch of 3 million doses of the Chinse vaccine arrived in Turkey on Dec. 30, 2020 and had been sent to local laboratories for tests that lasted for 14 days.

Turkey will be receiving a total of 50 million doses of the Sinovac vaccines. Members of the Health Ministry’s Science Board recently said that the rest of the jabs will be delivered to the country in batches by the end of February.