Jabs given in Turkey valid for vaccine certificates, says health minister

ISTANBUL

Jabs administered in Turkey against COVID-19 are valid for vaccine certificates in the countries Ankara has agreements with for the reciprocal recognition of those certificates, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said.

“The Foreign Ministry is holding talks with all nations and signing agreements for those certificates. Irrespective of which injections they are, vaccine certificates are mutually recognized,” Koca said on July 7 after a meeting of the Health Ministry’s Science Board.

Turkey has been using the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and the Chinese company Sinovac in its vaccine drive which was rolled out in mid-January.

“The type of injection is not a matter of choice for vaccine certificates. We are one of the leading countries with respect to producing those certificates,” the minister added.

He noted that most developed countries have written certificates, whereas Turkey keeps those documents in all digital platforms. “We are expecting the countries with which we have an agreement to integrate to this system,” Koca said.

As far as the inoculation efforts is concerned, the minister stressed that the main item on the country’s agenda is to achieve the highest vaccination rate.

“We have mobilized all human resources and energy for this.”

Koca, however, noted that some provinces are falling behind, while others are keeping up with the pace of the vaccination program, moving toward reaching social immunity.

If it is necessary, people will be vaccinated on the spot, where they are, the minister said.

“Locally and nationwide speaking, we are implementing a comprehensive [vaccination] program. We will make this program even more dynamic,” Koca added.

The ministers also informed that those, who had COVID-19, may have two doses of the vaccine if they want to, not only one dose as previously announced.

Authorities are closely watching developments in the world regarding the variants of COVID-19, informing the public and taking the necessary measures, he said.

Over 8 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines have been administered in the past 10 days, Koca said in a tweet on July 8.