Over 118.2M coronavirus vaccine shots given in Turkey to date

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey has administered over 118.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January, according to official figures released on Friday.

More than 55.7 million people have been given a first vaccine dose and over 49.5 million are fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

Turkey has also given third booster shots to over 11.6 million people.

The ministry recorded 23,637 new coronavirus cases, 217 deaths and 25,164 recoveries over the past day.

As many as 354,287 virus tests were done in the past 24 hours, the data showed.

People aged 60 and above accounted for 15% of all virus cases and more than 84% of deaths in the past one month, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

He said infections among children in the 8-16 age group have declined by 10%.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 5 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 252.1 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​