ISTANBUL – Turkey, one of the worst-hit countries in the Middle East by the coronavirus, is in a hurry to introduce vaccines as soon as possible, and the Chinese are willing to help.
For vaccines administered by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, Turkey, where new daily cases go around 30,000, they are expected to release inoculations as early as this month after local testing and confirmation upcoming phase III clinical trial results. The first 3 million doses of Sinovac vaccines out of 50 million under contract will be delivered in the coming days.
Chinese drug companies are early movers in a wide area of the Middle East. The situation allows China to design soft power and influence, in a key geographical area where the country has historically had little influence compared to Western competitors.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said at a press conference earlier this month so far that the country has failed to get more vaccines from Sinovac and said he is pushing for more. He said Sinovac has a strong history in the production of inactivated vaccines, which Turkey preferred to use as a traditional method compared to the latest technology of mRNA vaccines, which Pfizer and Moderna have developed.
Koca said inactivated vaccines are “more natural and safer,” saying “Moderna does not provide vaccines outside the US,” although Japan and the European Union have already agreed to buy one. when they are ready.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and the health minister are in personal communication with the co-founder and CEO of BioNTech in Germany, a mRNA-based vaccine developer with Pfizer. The co-founders of BioNTech have Turkish roots.
Koca acknowledged that Turkey is struggling to buy Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines at the time you want before April 2021, when the country hopes to roll out home-developed vaccines. Turkey is also participating in Pfizer-BioNTech phase III clinical trials, but said Pfizer-BioNTech is only offering 1 million early doses and 25 million doses by the end of 2021.
The Chinese embassy in Ankara announced on Tuesday that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke with Chinese representative Wang Yi on Monday, where Wang said, “Turkey’s decision to buy Chinese vaccines shows confidence in China. , and the Chinese side will provide the necessary assistance. “
Moreover, Turkey insisted on staying in line with Beijing’s policy regarding the Muslim separatist group in China – according to the statement, Wang said, “It is the duty of every country to strike a blow at East Turkestan Islamic Initiative, “adds,” “China is ready to deepen cooperation with Turkey on terrorism.”
ETIM is a Uighur separatist group in Xinjiang, which recently removed the U.S. from its terrorist list. Turkey added the group to its list in 2017. China says the group is responsible for attacks in the country and justifies the crackdown in Xinjian.
Cavusoglu said, “Turkey will not allow anyone to undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
According to Ali Merthan Dundar, director of the Asia Pacific Research Center at Ankara University, “It is clear that Turkey is seeking faster and more vaccines from China and pushing all channels, while China is not. misses opportunity to get vaccinated for Turkey to seek more cooperation against STEM. “
Scott Rosenstein, special adviser on global health at Eurasia Group, told Nikkei Asia: “Priority was given to wealthy industrialized countries that were able to lock down market commitments in advance at aggressive prices and volume” for early supply of vaccines West, leaving “emerging countries to gain priority access primarily by participating in phase III clinical trials of vaccines in addition to providing their domestic production capabilities . “
In addition, vaccines such as those of Pfizer and Moderna require complex and expensive cold chain treatment, compared to inactivated Chinese vaccines.
Sinovac and two other vaccines by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) are also urging emerging countries to choose China for this purpose, in addition to the lower price tag.
Both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announced that the Sinopharm vaccine was officially registered and on Monday, inoculations for residents of Abu Dhabi began. Bahrain also launched an online registration for the vaccine on Sunday.
Another Sinopharm clinical trial partner in the region, Egypt, the most populous Arab country, has received two batches of vaccines as Sunday, becoming the first country on the African continent to have access to the vaccine.
Egypt’s Youm7 newspaper reported on Sunday that an Egyptian health ministry official said, “Egypt aims to introduce 110 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine,” while Intelligence Minister Osama Heikal said for good links with China and participation in clinical trials of the vaccines.
Morocco, which also participated in clinical trials, has prescribed 10 million doses of Sinopharm. Jordan is also participating in Sinopharm clinical trials.
However, according to Rosenstein of the Eurasia Group, for China, “the overall citation benefit from vaccine engagement may not be too great,” because “risk is also down.” He said China could damage two relations. unless these vaccines arrive on time, “due to China ‘s excessive contract cuts with too many countries, domestic demand for vaccines, manufacturing delays, safety issues, or supply chain bottles,” when the countries ” count on Chinese vaccines to help them turn the corner. “
Altay Atli, a lecturer at Bogazici University, believes that China has been criticized around the world for its treatment of the pandemic and China’s “mascara diplomacy” – distributing protective equipment as well as medical equipment to statement changed – failed. But with the vaccines, “China may now have a real opportunity to liberate itself,” Atli said.
However, trust in the Chinese vaccine may also be a problem. The Ipsos Turkey election result announced Tuesday revealed that, among five vaccines, only 11% of respondents say they trust Sinovac injection, scoring the lowest. Pfizer-BioNTech was the highest with 41%.
Ipsos Turkey President Sidar Gedik said, “To encourage citizens to take the Chinese Sinovac vaccine should be better explained by scientific data. Another thing, there may be a risk in the level of herd immunity you are taking. want to reach. “
Additional statement by Saber Rabie in Cairo and Nesreen Bakheit in Dubai.