Turkey administers over 855,300 COVID-19 vaccine shots in 24 hours

By Merve Aydogan and Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey administered a total of 855,308 COVID-19 vaccine jabs over the past day, according to official figures released on Monday.

The country has administered over 58.63 million vaccine doses since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to the Health Ministry.

More than 37.97 million people have received their first doses, while over 17.56 million got their second dose.

To date, 61.16% of the country's adult population has received at least one vaccine dose.

The ministry also confirmed 5,404 new coronavirus infections and 49 deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 5,506 more patients recovered.

Amid a nationwide fall in virus cases and an expedited inoculation drive, Turkey has entered a new normalization phase, lifting almost all virus-related restrictions.

However, seeking to limit the spread of the Delta variant of the virus, the country has suspended flights from Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, passengers from the UK, Iran, Egypt, and Singapore are required to have a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours prior to their flight.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.03 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 186.94 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.