Over 31.4M COVID-19 vaccine shots administered in Turkey

By Burak Bir and Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has so far administered over 31.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass inoculation drive in mid-January, according to official figures released on Tuesday.

More than 18.1 million people have received their first doses, while over 13.2 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

The ministry also confirmed 6,609 new coronavirus cases, including 557 symptomatic patients, in the last 24 hours. The number of new cases on Monday was 5,647.

Turkey's overall case tally is now over 5.3 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 48,341 with 86 new fatalities.

As many as 5,836 more patients won the battle against the virus, raising the total number of recoveries past 5.17 million. Over 55.8 million coronavirus tests have been conducted to date.

The latest figures put the tally of COVID-19 patients in critical condition at 1,044.

From Wednesday, musicians, film and TV series production teams in Turkey will be able to get vaccinated without age limit, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Twitter.

- Local, regional figures

Koca also released the latest weekly infection rates across the country’s various regions.

Sharing the data for May 29-June 4, he said the case numbers are consistently falling.

The biggest drops in the number of cases per 100,000 people were seen in Gumushane, Bilecik, Bayburt, Kocaeli and Kirklareli provinces.

The number of cases per 100,000 people was 63.93 in Istanbul – home to nearly one-fifth of Turkey’s population, 99.50 in the capital Ankara and 41.23 in Izmir on the Aegean.

Turkey is currently imposing a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m on weekdays and Saturdays, and a full lockdown on Sundays.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.73 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 173.7 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.