Azerbaijan, Turkey mull purchase of COVID-19 vaccine

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Turkey have discussed the possibility of joint purchase of COVID-19 vaccine, Azerbaijani Management Union of Medical Territorial Units reported on its official Facebook page.

Azerbaijani delegation headed by the Ramin Bayramli held a number of meetings at the Health Ministry of Turkey.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the possibility of joint purchase of coronavirus vaccine by the two countries, vaccination strategy, including identification of population groups to be vaccinated in the first place.

Azerbaijan registered its first COVID-19 case in February and introduced the special quarantine regime on March 24.

Currently, Azerbaijan has extended until December 28 the nationwide quarantine regime in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.  The country introduced various lockdown rules, including suspension of public transport on weekends and provision of services for all types of activities, except the pharmacies and grocery stores. The use of medical masks throughout the country became mandatory in all closed and open spaces from November 21. In addition, Azerbaijan has extended distance learning period across the country until December 30 due to COVID-19.

It should be noted that within the framework of the fight against COVID-19, Azerbaijan was the first country implementing a project such as REACT-C19. The project, implemented as part of measures to combat COVID-19 and aimed to increase basic skills in hospitals, lasted for three months. In the meantime, Azerbaijan has allocated to the World Health Organization a donation in the amount of $10 million.

In addition to $10 million allocated for the World Health Organization, Azerbaijan has provided the humanitarian and financial aid to over 30 countries to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

As of December 7, Azerbaijan, the nation of ten million, has registered 146,679 COVID-19 cases and  1,632 coronavirus-related deaths. Over 88,497 people have recovered from the disease.