Turkey’s covid19 vaccine developed by Prof. Dr. Özdarendeli spoke about TURKOVAC
Prof. Dr. Aykut Özdarendeli, “Although there is a decrease in antibody titers in Delta and Alpha, we know that TURKOVAC is 100 percent protective when we try it on experimental animals.” said.
At the meeting moderated by Prof. Dr. İftahar Köksal, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Acibadem University, scientists discussed the latest developments related to the Covid-19 outbreak and answered the questions.
Developing the domestic vaccine TURKOVAC, Prof. Dr. Aykut Özdarendeli, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology. Dr. Murat Akova and Clinical Microbiology Specialist Prof. Dr. Selim Badur joined.
prof. Dr. Murat Akova, referring to the recent studies on the Omicron variant, stated that there may be a decrease in the protection of vaccines against this variant, but it still maintains its protection.
Answering the question about whether the isolation period should be extended due to Omicron, Akova stated that there is no need for such a thing, because the contagion occurs during the symptom or within 2 days after the symptom, and then decreases.
“Work on TURKOVAC still continues”
Prof. Dr. Özdarendeli also talked about his experiences in the development process of TURKOVAC.
Özdarendeli said that after the first Kovid-19 cases were seen on March 11, 2020, they started working and isolated the virus at the end of the month.
Pointing out that the virus is isolated very quickly and preclinical studies are progressing rapidly, Özdarendeli noted that university, industry and public cooperation is important in this process, and that such studies cannot reach certain points without three stakeholders.
Pointing out that the work on TURKOVAC, which has been approved for immediate use, is still continuing, Özdarendeli said, “Process improvements and efficiency increases regarding mass production will continue. Phase-3 continues on the one hand, booster doses continue. These studies will continue at the same time while using it. ” he said.
Answering questions about the effectiveness of the vaccine and whether the next reminder doses will be made with TURKOVAC, Özdarendeli said, “We don’t know against Omicron, but even though there is a decrease in antibody titers in Delta and Alpha, we also tried it in transgenic mice in experimental animals, and TURKOVAC was 100 percent. “We know it’s protective. We don’t know about Omicron, we haven’t isolated it and started working yet.” said.
prof. Dr. Selim Badur also stated that what was learned from the epidemic should be evaluated, and stated that many theoretical issues such as globalization, taking into account ecological characteristics, and attacking nature became flesh and bone in this process.
