Turks who have received the full recommended dose of the domestically produced Turkovac vaccine won’t be eligible to enter Germany under the country’s updated COVID-19 policies, the Sözcü daily reported on Friday.
According to Germany’s Paul Ehrlich Institute for Vaccines and Biomedicines, foreign citizens need to be fully inoculated with one of the approved vaccines produced by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca or Janssen to enter the country.
Foreigners who lack the necessary vaccinations will be denied entry to Germany even if they present negative PCR tests, Sözcü said, adding that if the unvaccinated applicants have a valid reason to enter the country, such as serving as a witness in a trial, they will be allowed entry following a period of quarantine.
Citizens of third countries may apply for a Schengen visa from Germany, but they will be allowed in only after full vaccination, according to Sözcü.
Turkovac has been left off the approved list of vaccines, along with those developed in China and Russia.
German broadcaster ARD last week reported “doubts” about the effectiveness of the Turkish jab, saying there was no official data on it.
Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Secretary-General Vedat Bulut also spoke on the lack of data on Turkovac on Jan. 5, saying there was “no vaccine to speak of.”
“There is a solution that is claimed to be a vaccine,” Bulut said, calling for the public release of completed studies.
A similar call also was made jointly on Friday by the Association of Public Health Specialists (HASUDER), the Turkish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (KLİMİK) and the Turkish Thoracic Society (TTD) to the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (TITCK), from which Turkovac had received emergency use authorization in late December.
Turkey recorded 67,857 daily coronavirus cases on Friday, in addition to 167 deaths.
The country has said it was not considering new restrictions for the moment, instead urging citizens to ramp up personal measures and get vaccinated. Ankara launched a nationwide rollout of Turkovac on Dec. 30.