Turkey sends 20,000 doses of vaccine to Northern Cyprus

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Turkey sent 20,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the country's top health official said Wednesday.

“20,000 doses of CoronaVac vaccine arrived in our country at 5 a.m. [0300 GMT] in the morning by air ambulance from the Republic of Turkey,” Health Minister Ali Pilli said in a statement.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the arrival of vaccines, Pilli said his country is planning to start vaccination on Thursday and Saturday.

“We have prepared our plan for vaccination, in the first phase they will be done in nine centers,” he said, noting the first ones to get vaccinated are the health professionals.

He said following the health workers, people aged 65 and over will get the vaccine.

“We are a small country but we will easily overcome this,” Pilli said.

Thanking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca for their support for the TRNC, Pilli said: “As always, Turkey is with us in the fight against COVID-19 as well.”

Three million doses of the vaccine produced by Beijing-based company COronaVac reached Turkey on Dec. 30.

*Contributions and writing by Sena Guler