Turkey administers over 65.6M COVID-19 vaccine shots so far

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has administered nearly 65.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to figures released on Saturday.

The country is continuing its intensive vaccination campaign to curb the virus's spread, with all people aged 18 and over currently eligible for vaccine shots.

According to the Health Ministry, over 39.3 million people have received their first dose, while more than 22.4 million are fully vaccinated.

To date, 63.44% of the adult population has received at least one vaccine dose, with a total of 221,463 coronavirus tests done over the past day.

The ministry also confirmed 12,381 new infections and 58 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 5,383 more patients recovered.

Pointing to a rise in new infections, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Twitter urged people to get vaccinated.

On July 1, Turkey entered a normalization phase, lifting almost all virus-related restrictions amid a nationwide drop in cases and an expedited vaccination drive.

However, seeking to limit the spread of the virus' Delta variant, the country has suspended flights from India, where the strain first appeared.

Arrivals from the UK, Iran, Egypt, and Singapore are also required to have negative COVID-19 test results within 72 hours before their departure.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.14 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 193.16 million cases reported, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.