Turkey gives nearly 45M coronavirus vaccine shots

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has administered nearly 45 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in mid-January, according to official figures released on Thursday.

More than 30 million people have received their first doses, while over 14.6 million have been fully vaccinated, showed the Health Ministry count.

As of Thursday morning, 5.78 million people have received their first doses in Istanbul while more than 2.49 million people received their first doses in the capital Ankara. The ministry data also showed that over 2 million people received their first jab of COVID-19 vaccines in the western Izmir province.

Turkey on Wednesday lowered the COVID-19 vaccination eligibility age to 18, with appointments to be scheduled as of Friday, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also on Tuesday unveiled Turkovac, the country's indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which has entered Phase 3 clinical trials.

Amid a nationwide fall in COVID-19 cases, Turkey is set to end all restrictions, which include nighttime curfews and total lockdown on Sundays, as of July 1.

On June 1, the country eased some measures following a 17-day strict lockdown.

The country's overall case tally as of Wednesday is now over 5.38 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 49,358 with 65 new fatalities.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.89 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with nearly 179.6 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.