ISTANBUL – Turkey’s health minister has announced a vaccination plan starting with an experimental “inactivated vaccine” later this month to combat the COVID-19 pandemic amid a surge in infections and deaths.Fahrettin Koca had previously announced an agreement with Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech for 50 million doses of CoronaVac, which is currently in Phase 3 trials.
Koca said in a statement late Wednesday that the first shipment of the inactivated vaccine will arrive in Turkey after Dec. 11.Inactivated vaccines are made by growing the whole virus in a lab and then killing it.