Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Thursday that the Turkish government reached a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech to purchase 4.5 million doses of their joint-effort coronavirus vaccine.
This deal provides an opportunity for the Turkish government to purchase another 30 million doses later on should they decide to exercise this option. This is the second coronavirus vaccine deal to be reached by the Turkish government. The first agreement reached with the Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinovac Biotech will result in the delivery of 50 million doses to Turkey on Monday.
Turkey is the latest in a long line of countries to enter into deals with Pfizer and BioNTech for the distribution of their vaccine. After the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of this vaccine, 100,000 doses of the vaccine were delivered to Israel.
Brazil decided to order a colossal 70 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, while up to 100 million doses are expected to be administered within the United States by July 31st of 2021. This is in addition to the 100 million doses agreed upon as part of the US government’s Operation Warp Speed.
