Turkey gives over 74M COVID-19 vaccine shots so far

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has administered more than 74.92 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to figures released on Thursday.

The country continues its intensive vaccination campaign to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as everyone 18 and over is eligible for vaccine shots.

According to the Health Ministry, over 41.45 million people have gotten their first dose, while more than 28.15 million are fully vaccinated.

Turkey is also administering third COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, and over 5.3 million such doses have been given.

To date, 66.77% of the country's adult population has received at least one dose of the two-step vaccines.

The ministry also confirmed 24,297 new infections and 108 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 6,636 more patients recovered.

Following the country's Scientific Committee Meeting, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday that Turkey will get nearly 13 million doses of BioNTech vaccines by Monday.

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

However, seeking to limit the spread of the Delta variant, the country suspended flights from India and required arrivals from the UK, Iran, Egypt, and Singapore to have negative COVID-19 test results taken within 72 hours prior.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed nearly 4.26 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with over 200.5 million cases reported, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.