Turkey has refused to purchase the coronavirus vaccine from Russia. The Russian vaccine does not comply with good laboratory practice, the head of the Turkish Ministry of Health Fahrettin Koca, said, Haber Turk reports.
The Turkish official noted that the Russian vaccine is an adenovirus vaccine that does not comply with good laboratory practice. Therefore, the minister said, the rest of the world should not buy the vaccine from Russia either.
Earlier, it was reported that Turkey wanted to produce the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Ankara was reportedly going to launch the production of the Russian vaccine at the facilities of Turkish pharmaceutical manufacturers after conducting appropriate toxicological studies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Turkey's refusal to purchase Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine from Moscow.
"The results of the tests and the trials show that this is a very effective and reliable vaccine," he said.
To date, Russia has registered two vaccines against COVID-19. Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Research Center, was the first drug that received official registration. Its production was launched on August 15. On October 14, President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of EpiVacCorona vaccine developed by Vector Center.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken about the reliability, safety and effectiveness of the Russian vaccine. More than 50 countries have expressed interest in the Russian vaccine developed by Gamaleya Center. In November, Uzbekistan applied to the Russian Direct Investment Fund with a request to provide the drug for clinical trials. Sputnik V is also being tested in Belarus, India, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates. The work is underway with regulators from Brazil, Argentina and other countries.
Sputnik V was the world's first COVID-19 vaccine. In Russia, it is already administered to teachers and health workers.