President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), which has expressed its reservations about not sharing scientific data on the vaccine, with the words “You are a liar, a fraudster, a fraud”. TTB, on the other hand, said in a written statement, “We will continue to express the requirements of science and tell the truth.”
The local Covid-19 vaccine Turkovac, which was approved for emergency use by the Ministry of Health, Turkey Medical Devices and Medicines Agency (TİTCK), started to be applied in city hospitals across the country.
In his speech at the opening of the high-speed train line in Karaman on Saturday, President Erdogan rejected the concerns expressed by the TTB and criticized it with the following words:
“There is also the Medical Association. How liars and acrobats are they? Erciyes University produces and invents the Turkovac vaccine with a large staff, people say, ‘There is no such thing.’ You are neither a fraud, nor a liar. As you know, as the Medical Association, do you have any work to date? But you always put a stone to the one who did it.”
TTB, on the other hand, made a written statement about Erdogan’s criticism. explanation replied with.
Emphasizing that they are right in every warning, because the only thing they refer to is “science”, the union said, “TTB is grateful to vaccine studies and all the scientists who contributed to it. However, the attitude of the government in this process is unfortunately no different and far from transparent than the one in the pandemic. This attitude, which is far from transparency, unfortunately creates “vaccine hesitations” in people,” he said.
According to the TTB, which states that the data on the Phase 3 studies of the Turkovac vaccine have not yet been published in international peer-reviewed journals, the immediate use approval should have been obtained after this step.
In the statement of TTB, stating that their demand is to share the data about all vaccine studies with the public so that people do not have any more hesitations about vaccination, the statement of TTB included the following statements: “conduct the process together with all health organizations; create a fast and effective vaccination program”.
Husband got the first vaccine
Announcing that Turkovac’s emergency use approval was received in December, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca had the local vaccine administered as a reminder dose at Ankara City Hospital, where he went with the members of the Scientific Committee.
In a statement made at the production center in Şanlıurfa on 22 December, Koca said, “50 years later, Turkey has carried out a vaccine 100 percent by Turkish scientists, starting from the cell,” and noted that Turkey is one of the nine countries producing the Covid-19 vaccine.
Turkovac has not yet been approved for emergency use from the World Health Organization (WHO).
President of Turkish Health Institutes (TÜSEB) Prof. Dr. Erhan Akdoğan announced that “necessary initiatives have been initiated” before the World Health Organization for Turkovac.
TTB conveyed its questions and warnings to the Ministry of Health.
The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) shared with the public its questions and warnings about Turkovac, which it sent to the General Directorate of Public Health in a letter.
According to TTB, scientific information and data of Turkovac vaccine were not shared sufficiently, and no articles on Phase-3 studies were published in scientific journals.
The TTB is of the opinion that the fact that the emergency use approval was given by the Turkish Medical Devices and Medicines Agency, which “has no scientific freedom and administrative autonomy”, also causes scientific reservations.
In the statement of the TTB, it was said, “The statements of the ministry that a vaccine whose scientific study results have not been published and has not been discussed in scientific environments is considered safe and effective will unfortunately increase the hesitations about the existing vaccine.”
- Have Phase-1, Phase-2, and Phase-3 studies of the vaccine been published as a scientific report in a form that is accessible to the public?
- Is there a report that the vaccine is “safe” and “effective” before it is approved for emergency use?
- Are Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP-GMP) and biosafety level (BSL 3) conditions met in the production facilities of this vaccine?
- Which are the manufacturers and suppliers and what is the cost per dose?
In a written statement, the Association of Public Health Specialists called for the results of the Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase-3 studies to be shared with the public, and it was noted that the publication of the Phase-3 study results of the vaccine in international scientific journals will contribute to its international approval.
What is known about Turkovac?
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the 3rd phase studies of the domestic Covid-19 vaccine had started in June and that the vaccine was named “Turkovac”.
The vaccine was named Turkovac, a combination of the Turkish and English word “vaccine”.
Turkovac, an inactivated vaccine like Sinovac, was developed in cooperation with Erciyes University and the Ministry of Health, Turkish Health Institutes Presidency (TÜSEB).
Turkovac’s 3rd phase works started at the end of June. At this stage, the vaccine has been tested on thousands of people.
Within the scope of the 3rd phase studies, the trial of the vaccine on volunteers in Istanbul started at the beginning of July, and its administration to the volunteers in Kayseri City Hospital on August 26.
The Ministry of Health defines inactivated vaccines as:
- It is produced by traditional methods.
- By disintegrating and neutralizing the virus, our immunity is stimulated without harming our body.
- The long-term effects can be discussed more clearly compared to other vaccines.
- They are considered safer in the first stage because they contain killed viruses.
- It can be stored at 2-8°C.
- Its production is more difficult and slower than others.