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Turkey begins vaccine trials with foreign drugmakers

Turkey's health minister has announced the start of human trials in Turkey with Chinese, US and Russian vaccines and says the end of the crisis is in sight.
A nurse prepares a shot of the A(H1N1) vaccine (Pandemrix from Glaxo Smith Kline -GSK- laboratory) to a hospital staff member in Istanbul, on November 2, 2009. Turkey began vaccinating medical workers Monday as the death toll from the A(H1N1) virus in the country reached six, the health ministry said.   The latest victims of the disease were a 22-month-old baby and a 14-year-old boy who died overnight in the central city of Konya, a ministry statement said. Nine other people infected with swine flu were in

ISTANBUL — Turkey is starting clinical trials of potential vaccines for the novel coronavirus, working with drugmakers in China, the United States and other countries.

On Wednesday, three Turkish health workers at an Ankara research hospital began Phase III trials of Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said at a news conference after a meeting with the government’s coronavirus task force. The trial will eventually be expanded to 10,000 volunteers and the vaccine’s effectiveness in creating antibodies will become clear within a month.

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