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Coronavirus pandemic

Turkey to begin tests of Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine soon - health minister

The related documents have already been checked and a permit will soon be issued, Fahrettin Koca said

© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS

ANKARA, September 2. /TASS/. Turkey may soon issue a permit for tests of the Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine, Turkish Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.

"We have received an inquiry concerning trials of the vaccine developed in Russia. The related documents have already been checked and a permit will soon be issued," he said, adding that Turkey is currently testing two its own vaccines.

On August 11, Russia registered the world’s first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, dubbed Sputnik V, was developed by the Gamalei National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry, and its clinical trials were successfully completed in June-July. The vaccine was developed on a platform that had been used for a number of other vaccines.

CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev said earlier that Russian had received orders for one billion vaccine doses from 20 world nations.

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