Turkey on Wednesday approved the emergency use of a coronavirus jab developed by China's Sinovac, paving the way for a national vaccination drive that will start with healthcare workers.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca rolled up his sleeve and received the first shot of CoronaVac after announcing plans to start administering it nationally on Thursday.

"Everyone should get vaccinated because it is the only way to get rid of this pandemic," Koca said in televised comments.

Turkey said last month that preliminary domestic testing showed 91.25-percent efficacy for CoronaVac.

But more robust trials in Brazil demonstrated an efficacy rate of around 50 percent — much lower than those of rival shots from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZenica.

A third trial in Indonesia showed an efficacy of 65.3 percent.

"This is a safe vaccine. The safety studies have been completed," said Koca without elaborating.

Turkey has signed up for 50 million doses of CoronaVac. Twenty million of them are due to arrive by the end of the month.

It is also expected to receive 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab by late March, although negotiations are still ongoing.

The vaccinations will start with Turkey's 1.1 million health workers before moving on to those aged 65 or over and people with chronic illnesses.

Turkey has seen its official daily death tolls from the virus slip back down to under 200 after imposing weekend lockdowns and other daily restrictions in November.

The nation of 83 million people has recorded 23,325 Covid-19 deaths and more than 2.3 million virus infections.

Senegal in talks to procure Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine
Dakar (AFP) Jan 13, 2021 –

Senegal is in talks to acquire 200,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine, the government has said, intended as part of an imminent vaccination campaign against Covid-19.

The West African state is already participating in Covax, a global collaboration scheme with pharmaceutical firms to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

However Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr said in a video posted on social media late Tuesday that, separately, Senegal is also in talks with China to procure its Covid-19 vaccine Sinopharm.

The figure of 200,000 doses is a "working basis," Sarr explained, adding that the ministry intends to begin a roll-out "very soon".

As with other countries in Africa, Senegal's infection rate is far below levels reached in the West, having recorded over 21,000 coronavirus cases since March, with 480 deaths.

The poor nation of 16 million people is nonetheless battling a second wave of Covid-19, which forced the government to impose new restrictions last week.

"As well as Covax, we have to adopt a … national strategy," Sarr said, explaining that health workers, the elderly and people with comorbidities will be prioritised for vaccination.

Some 20 percent of Senegal's population are initially expected to be innoculated, he added, but said the government aimed to become "more ambitious with time".

Sinopharm says its vaccine is 79 percent effective against the novel coronavirus, a figure lower than those announced by its western competitors Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna of 95 and 94 percent respectively.

On Sunday, the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles began vaccinating its population with Sinopharm — becoming the first African nation to launch a Covid-19 vaccination campaign.

Sinopharm's vaccine is diferent from another Chinese anti-Covid jab, Coronavac.

On Tuesday, Brazil's Butantan Institute said tests on 12,500 volunteers showed that Coronavac had an efficacy of 50 percent, the minimum threshold set by the UN's World Health Organization (WHO).