Ateş Kara

Initial data suggest that locally developed vaccine Turkovac is very effective against COVID-19, an expert has said, while Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has voiced concern over the slow pace in the jab drive, particularly in the second shot of the vaccine.

Turkey's health minister has urged the public to volunteer in studies for the development of the country's own coronavirus vaccine, Turkovac.

In the phase 3 trials, authorities are also giving the local jab candidate to volunteers as the booster shot.

The Turkish Health Ministry's Science Board will look into whether the COVID-19 vaccine could be administered to children aged between 5 and 11 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Advisory Committee recommended the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for this age group.

Turkey may see a second peak of the coronavirus cases if people continue to ignore warnings and avoid necessary precautions, Professor Seçil Özkan from the Health Ministry's Science Board has said.

The members of the Health Ministry's Coronavirus Science Board have announced that the rate of transmission up to 5 in the world has fallen below 1 in Turkey, while stressing on the necessity to carry on with the measures.

Turkey will conduct tests to trace "ghost spreaders," who have the coronavirus but do not show any symptoms of the COVID-19 disease, according to Professor Ateş Kara, a member of the country's Science Board.