UPDATE - Turkey, BioNTech reach deal on COVID-19 vaccine

UPDATES WITH FURTHER REMARKS BY TURKISH HEALTH MINISTER; ADDS BACKGROUND

By Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's health minister said his country and German company BioNTech struck a deal early Friday, and that initially, 550,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine would be sent to the country by the end of the year or early 2021 at the latest.

According to Fahrettin Koca, 4.5 million doses of the vaccine will be sent to Turkey by the end of March 2021 under the agreement.

Turkey could have access to up to 30 million doses as part of the deal, Koca added.

The minister went on to say that the delay in the process was because the company did not want to take any responsibility for possible production problems.

The vaccination will be based on written consent, he added.

Koca, on behalf of the Turkish nation, thanked to Turkish-German scientist Dr. Ugur Sahin, the CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, for his efforts for easing the process.

Turkey has so far reported over 2.1 million patients and 19,371 deaths related to the coronavirus outbreak, while, on the bright side, more than 1.97 million people have recovered from the virus.