CoronaVac is 83.5 percent effective, says Turkey’s Hacettepe University

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Hacettepe University has announced that the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by China's Sinovac company, is 83.5 percent effective against COVID-19 after concluding the final phase of their clinical trials.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Hacettepe University has said that trials show the vaccine will prevent hospitalization by 100 percent.

"A group of the volunteers received the actual vaccine, while the other received a placebo," the university has said in a statement explaining the research methodology. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew which jab was given to whom, it has added.

The volunteers were aged 18-59, with the median age being 45.

"At least one dose of actual vaccine or placebo was administered to 10,216 people," the statement of the university has said, adding, "Of these volunteers, 6,648 were included in the actual vaccine group, while 3,568 were included in the placebo group."

No death occurred during the trials, the university has indicated further. However, the most common side effects were tiredness with 9.8 percent, headache 7.6 percent, muscle pain 3.8 percent, fever 2.5 percent, chills 2.4 percent and pain in the injection area 1.6 percent.

The university has said that 57.8 percent of the volunteers were men while 42.24 percent of them women.

On January 14, Turkey began a mass COVID-vaccination campaign, starting with healthcare workers along with top officials in a stated attempt to encourage public confidence in the vaccines.

According to the Health Ministry's official figures, Turkey has so far administered over 9.36 million coronavirus vaccine jabs across the country.

Over 7.26 million people to date have received their first doses of the vaccine, while over 2.1 million have received the second dose. (AÖ/SD)