Turks welcome China’s vaccine

▶ Sinopharm tests distribution as mass use nears

While Western media have been extensively covering American drug firm Pfizer’s vaccine progress in the West, more countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East expressed trust and confidence in Chinese COVID- 19 vaccines.

During a phone call with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey believes Chinese COVID- 19 vaccines are safe and effective, and Turkey would make urgent purchases from China.

Turkey had signed a contract to buy 50 million doses of the COVID- 19 vaccine from Chinese company Sinovac.

Turkey’s decision to purchase Chinese COVID- 19 vaccines reflects its trust in China, and China is ready to provide necessary assistance to Turkey, Wang noted.

Around 13,000 volunteers in Turkey participated in Sinovac’s Phase III clinical trials, according to Reuters.

Tunc Akkoc, Chairman of the Turkish Aydinlik Newspaper, the oldest newspaper in Turkey, told the Global Times recently that a majority of Turkish people preferred Chinese vaccines over Pfizer’s as the vaccines from China have been produced “in the same way as the vaccines made since our childhood.”

The bad performance of the US in controlling the epidemic has also shaken Turkish people’s trust in American vaccines, he said.

Countries like Indonesia, Brazil and Chile have also announced their purchase of the Sinovac vaccine. Indonesia received its first shipment of 1.2 million doses of the COVID- 19 vaccine from China last week.

China’s other COVID- 19 vaccines, developed by China National Biotec Group ( CNBG) under the China National Pharmaceutical Group ( Sinopharm), have been approved by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

While gaining more and more international momentum, Chinese vaccines are also pushing for mass use domestically.

Sinopharm Holdings, affiliated to Sinopharm Group, has started a large- scale maneuver across China to test its capacity and capability for its vaccine mass distribution system covering receiving orders, system scheduling, transporting to warehouse, sorting out batches, and landing to local vaccination sites.

Gu Yimin, General Manager of Logistics of Sinopharm Holdings, said that they have adopted the highly digitalized cold chain vaccine distribution platform that enables tracking the quality status of the vaccine, critical steps in the trip, temperature control and trajectory in transit.

“Turkey’s decision to purchase Chinese COVID- 19 vaccines reflects its trust in China, and China is ready to provide necessary assistance to Turkey.”

Wang Yi

Chinese State Councilor, Foreign Minister