By Tuvan Gumrukcu
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey has slowed the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations after an explosive start last week, but may accelerate it again after the country delivers vaccines to elderly people in nursing homes and in their homes, the program coordinator said.
The national launch of the CoronaVac vaccine, produced by Sinovac of China, reached 1 million people in the first week.
After 600,000 health workers were vaccinated in the first two days, the pace slowed to around 100,000 people a day, as the campaign moved to nursing homes across the country.
“Logistically, our capacity is very high. The current dose numbers are considerably low for us,” program coordinator Tarkan Mustafa Yamanoglu told Reuters on Wednesday.
The need to “properly administer” vaccines and limit contact to prevent the spread of infections were other factors that restricted the pace of implantation, he said, as well as the demographics of people being vaccinated.
“We expect fluctuations in vaccination speeds depending on age groups and mobility; this will happen in the next period,” said Yamanoglu in an interview.
Ankara has agreed to buy 50 million doses of CoronaVac and is in talks with other developers for supplies, but has only received 3 million doses so far. The authorities have not set a date for the next shipment.
Yamanoglu said the authorities have contingency plans in case of shipment delays, without giving details.
He added that it was easier to perform quick vaccinations with CoronaVac than some other injections, which require much colder storage, and that Ankara was preparing to administer all vaccines in the same way.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca had previously said that Turkey has the daily capacity to administer up to 2 million vaccines. The country has a population of about 82 million.
Later on Wednesday, Koca said Ankara’s vaccination program and purchasing strategy were “good”, adding that Turkey purchased doses according to its vaccination schedule, allowing it to continue vaccinating without pause.
“We are pressing all conditions to ensure that the vaccine reaches as many of our citizens as possible, as quickly as possible,” said Koca in a statement after meeting with his team of coronavirus scientists.
Turkey has reported about 24,000 COVID-19 deaths and more than 2.4 million infections since March, some of the highest figures in the Middle East. An evening curfew and blockades on the weekends are in place to try to contain the pandemic.
(Written by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Edited by Dominic Evans and Gerry Doyle)