Turkey may produce Russia's pioneering Sputnik V vaccine domestically, foreign minister says

Sputnik V, Russia's vaccine for Covid-19, may be produced on Turkish soil to meet the country's needs for immunization, the Turkish foreign minister said. Ankara also aims to get supplies from China and Germany.

Turkey is among several nations that are cooperating with Russia to receive the Sputnik V. Ankara is considering manufacturing the formula domestically after it is approved for use in Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

"Our health minister [Fahrettin Koca] said during a cabinet meeting yesterday that information is coming duly from Russia regarding the vaccine and that everything was on the right track," he said.

The aim of this cooperation is not only for vaccine supply but... for this vaccine to be produced in Turkey as well.

Cavusoglu was responding to the media during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Sochi. The ministers met in the southern Russian city to discuss strategic relations between the two countries.

Turkey has also agreed to buy 50 million doses of CoronaVac, the vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, and 4.5 million doses of Tozinameran, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Turkish scientists are also working on a domestic version.

Among other countries that have agreed to try the Russian vaccine are China, India, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Hungary.

Some countries, such as Turkey, want to license the product and manufacture it at its own facilities rather than wait for international shipments.

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