Turkey to extend interval between doses of the vaccine

STORY: Turkey Virus Vaccine - Turkey to extend interval between doses of the vaccine

LENGTH: 01:23

FIRST RUN: 1810

RESTRICTIONS:

TYPE: Turkish/Natsound

SOURCE: TURKISH HEALTH MINISTRY HANDOUT

STORY NUMBER: 4323218

DATELINE: 28 April 2021 - Ankara

SHOTLIST:

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

TURKISH HEALTH MINISTRY HANDOUT

Ankara - 28 April 2021

1. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Fahrettin Koca, Turkish Health Minister:

"By June, the received amount of the BioNTech (Pfizer) vaccine will exceed 30 million doses. In the scientific council meeting we held today, taking the opinion of Ugur Sahin (founder of pharmaceutical company BioNTech), who developed the vaccine, it was decided to apply the time between the application of two doses of the BioNTech vaccine as six to eight weeks."

++BLACK FRAMES++

2. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Fahrettin Koca, Turkish Health Minister:

"Vaccine supply is getting more difficult for the next two months, but it is expected that there will be an abundance of vaccines afterwards. The number of vaccine producers is increasing day by day. The production capacity of the vaccines is also increasing. As you know, two vaccines have been put into use in our country. Being the third, the Sputnik vaccine has reached the final stage for the emergency use approval and an agreement has been made for the procurement of the vaccine. Turkey signed an agreement to receive 50 million doses of the Sputnik vaccine within six months. The first shipment will take place in May. In addition, technological transfer will be made for the production of this vaccine in our country."

++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

STORYLINE:

Turkey announced Wednesday it will extend the interval between the two doses of the COVID-19 jab from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech from 28 days to between six and eight weeks, amid slowing vaccine deliveries.

In an address following a meeting of the country's health advisory council, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the decision was made following discussions with BioNTech's chief executive, Ugur Sahin.

The minister also said Turkey has signed an agreement to receive 50 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine within six months, with the first consignment expected to arrive in May.

Turkey will face a vaccine shortage in the next couple of months, but will enjoy an "abundance" after that, Koca predicted.

The country of some 84 million has so far administered more than 22 million doses of the Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines.

Some 8.7 million people have been fully inoculated.

Koca also said Turkey has detected five cases of a new variant that was first found in India.

All five cases were located in Istanbul and have placed in isolation, he said.

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