Turkish Health Ministry Denies Claims Infants Were Mistakenly Vaccinated Against COVID-19

The Turkish Health Ministry denied the claims made earlier in the day by a medical professor at the Ege University, Zafer Kurugol, that children below one year of age had been mistakenly vaccinated against COVID-19 in Turkey

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2021) The Turkish Health Ministry denied the claims made earlier in the day by a medical professor at the Ege University, Zafer Kurugol, that children below one year of age had been mistakenly vaccinated against COVID-19 in Turkey.

In an interview with the Turkish NTV broadcaster, Kurugol claimed that Turkish doctors had mistakenly administered COVID-19 vaccine shots to some infants instead of the hepatitis B vaccine.

"Kurugol's statements are unacceptable and untrue. Our vaccine safety system cannot let such incidents happen. An investigation was launched against the source of these allegations," the statement said.

There is a powerful and safe vaccination monitoring system in place, the ministry noted.

"The entire process, from the shipping of the vaccine from the ministry's warehouse to its administering, is monitored digitally using a bar code. If there are errors at any level, the system automatically issues warnings and takes the necessary precautions," the ministry explained.

The ministry also said it was investigating media reports that a newborn baby was mistakenly given COVID-19 vaccine in Izmir in light of Kurugol's "ill-fated" statements.

Turkey began its COVID-19 vaccination campaign in January. As of now, more than 53 million people over the age of 18 have received the first dose of the vaccine, and more than 42 million had both, accounting for 52% of the country's population.