ISTANBUL

The second shipment of a second batch of COVID-19 vaccines ordered from China arrived early Friday in Turkey.

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2nd shipment from 2nd batch of vaccines arrives in Turkey

Plane carrying 3.5M doses of vaccine from China lands in Istanbul

A Turkish Airlines plane that departed from Beijing landed at Istanbul Airport at 6.10 a.m. local time (0310GMT) carrying the 3.5 million doses of the vaccine.

A total of 10 million doses of the vaccine were imported in the second batch.

The first batch of vaccines consisted of three million doses.

Turkey has signed a deal with Chinese drug maker Sinovac Biotech to buy 50 million doses to vaccinate 25 million people.

Mass vaccinations in Turkey began on Jan. 14.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were among the first to be vaccinated to boost public confidence in the vaccine.

The government has also introduced nighttime and weekend curfews to stem the spread of COVID-19.