201118 Sinovac
Packages of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sinovac Biotech. Image Credit: Reuters

Ankara: Turkey became the latest country to roll out its COVID-19 vaccination programme, starting with health care workers in hospitals across the country.

Thursday’s start of the nationwide inoculation programme came a day after Turkish authorities gave the go-ahead for the emergency use of the vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Turkey’s health minister and members of the country’s scientific advisory council received the first shots live on television shortly after the regulator’s approval.

People over the age of 65 will be the next in line to be administered the vaccine in two doses.

50 million doses

Turkey received a first shipment of the Sinovac vaccine, consisting of 3 million doses, last month. The country is scheduled to get a total of 50 million doses of the vaccine.