Türkiye to produce own Hepatitis A vaccine: Erdoğan

Türkiye will be one of four countries that can produce a hepatitis A vaccine, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, as he inaugurated a new vaccine production facility in the Turkish capital.

"Thereafter, the Hepatitis A vaccines will be produced in our country in line with the world standards. Türkiye, thus, will be the fourth country producing this vaccine at the highest standard. With this important facility, our dependence on foreign suppliers of Hepatitis A vaccines will decrease," Erdoğan said at the ceremony for the opening of the KeyVac Vaccine Production Center in Ankara on Oct. 31.

Erdoğan recalled that this vaccine is used against the hepatitis virus and the Turkish Health Ministry is providing free jabs to every child in the 18th and 24th month after birth as well as to the citizens suffering from liver diseases. He thanked Alagöz Holding for building such an important health facility. "I commend all my brothers who have devoted their wisdom and vision to the Century of Türkiye. I praise those who contribute to the growth of Türkiye with their investments," he said.

The government has always been very keen in increasing the health standards in the country and this was observed explicitly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the president recalled.

"Our experiences during the pandemic have demonstrated the importance of the vaccination capacity. Türkiye has managed the pandemic process in a very successful way," Erdoğan said, stressing that the citizens were freely inoculated with different anti-COVID vaccines.

The president also noted that Türkiye also delivered heath equipment and other humanitarian supplies to more than 165 countries and dozens of international bodies as part of its humanitarian concerns.