Turkish authorities gave the go-ahead for the emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech on Wednesday, paving the way for the roll-out for Turkey’s vaccination programme starting with health care workers and other high-risk groups. The country’s health minister and members of the country’s scientific advisory council received the first shots live on television, soon after the health regulatory authority, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, announced it had given its approval for CoronaVac’s emergency use in the country of 83 million. “I had previously said that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” Koca said as he received the first dose of the vaccine, which will be delivered in two doses. “I believe that the days ahead of us will be bright.” Koca said Turkey’s vaccination programme would begin on Thursday, starting with health care workers. He urged all citizens to be vaccinated, saying it was the most promising way to beat the pandemic. The shots would carry a QR code assigned to a person’s name in accordance with Ankara’s vaccination programme and an online appointment system. The Sinovac vaccine underwent clinical trials in Turkey, Brazil and Indonesia, which have all reported diverging efficacy rates. In December, Turkish authorities announced an efficacy rate of 91.25 per cent from interim analysis of 29 cases in a trial with 7,371 volunteers. About 12,450 volunteers, including 1,500 health care workers, are involved in the late-stage clinical trials. Brazil’s Butantan Institute on Tuesday released data showing an efficacy rate of 50.4 per cent, significantly lower than the 78 per cent it announced for mild cases last week. This week, Indonesia, which conducted its own phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine with 1,620 volunteers, announced a efficacy rate of 65.3 per cent. The first shipment of Sinovac vaccine, consisting of 3 million doses, arrived in Turkey late last month. Turkey is expected to receive a total of 50 million doses. Turkey had previously also announced that it has agreed to procure 4.5 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, with an option to procure 30 million more doses later, although President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that talks with BioNTech were ongoing. China’s CoronaVac significantly less effective than earlier data shows Turkey has reported about 2.34 million infections and around 23,000 deaths. The country has imposed weekend lockdowns and evening curfews to fight the surge in the cases.