Turkey says it aims to produce Russia's Sputnik V vaccine at home

Turkey aims to produce Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine domestically but has asked for more information about it before inoculating its citizens, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday (December 29).

Russia has announced several international deals for the supply of Sputnik V, named after the Soviet-era satellite that triggered the space race in a nod to the project's geopolitical importance for Moscow.

Speaking alongside his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, Cavusoglu said the process to produce the Russian vaccine Sputnik V in Turkey was going positively.

Turkey has agreed to buy 50 million doses of CoronaVac, the vaccine produced by China's Sinovac's. The first shipment of 3 million doses has faced setbacks which have delayed delivery until this week.

Last week, Turkish researchers said CoronaVac was 91.25% effective based on an interim analysis. However, while Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said last week "we are now certain the vaccine is effective and safe," the trial data, based on 29 infections, was seen as too limited for final approvals.

Fragmental releases of efficacy data for CoronaVac could undermine confidence in the shot, experts warned, as several countries prepare for mass inoculations.

Turkey has also agreed with Pfizer and BioNTech for 4.5 million doses of their vaccine and is working on developing its own vaccine domestically.