Blogger Habib Muntazir wrote on Facebook on December 30, 2020, that vaccines made in China and supposed to be imported to Azerbaijan have been banned in China. The blogger quoted a statement from the Consul General of China in Istanbul while disseminating this information.
"One week ago, local news outlets reported that the Azerbaijani government had decided to buy 4 million coronavirus vaccines from Turkey. In return, about 80 million manats will be paid. Today, the Consul General of China in Istanbul, Cui Wei, announced that the use of the vaccine imported to Turkey is currently banned in China," he said.
The screenshot was taken from blogger Habib Muntazir's Facebook account
Well, how did this claim spread? At the end of December, Turkey purchased 3 million doses of vaccine from China. According to the fact-checking website teyit.org, after that, a number of websites and social network users in Turkey have written that the use of these vaccines was banned in China. Those who disseminated this information quoted the interview of the Consul General of China in Istanbul, Cui Wei, with A Haber TV.
In fact, the Consul General said that the mass use of vaccines, of which testing period has not been completed, is not allowed. He added that according to Chinese law, vaccines, which are in the third phase of the testing period, were used only in emergencies for persons included in the risk group. The decision to use the CoronaVac vaccine, which was produced by Sinovac Biotech Ltd and imported to Turkey, for that purpose was made on July 22, 2020.
The point is that the interview with the Consul General aired on November 27, and in December, his statement was taken out of context and re-circulated. Habib Muntazir also shared this information on December 30, the same date as the reports that the vaccine had been banned in China were disseminated. The Consul General of China in Istanbul denied reports that the vaccine had been banned in China on December 31. The Consulate General has already announced that vaccines have been injected en masse in various provinces of China.
The screenshot was taken from the Twitter page of the Consulate General of Chine in Istanbul.
Thus, the use of the CoronaVac vaccine, which was made by China and imported to Turkey, has not been banned. This vaccine has been allowed to be used in emergencies since July last year. The vaccine has not been widely used. The reason was that it was in the third phase of the testing period.
Fakt Yoxla concludes that Habib Muntazir’s claim that the use of the vaccine imported to Turkey was banned in China is false.
