Turkey has administered nearly 64.5M COVID-19 vaccine shots

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has administered nearly 64.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to figures released on Thursday.

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

According to the Health Ministry, over 39.15 million people have received their first dose, while over 21.63 million are fully vaccinated.

To date, 63.08% of the adult population has received at least one vaccine dose, with a total of 214,196 coronavirus tests done over the past day.

The ministry also confirmed 9,586 new infections and 52 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 5,093 more patients recovered.

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

With cases dropping and an expedited vaccination drive, on July 1 Turkey entered a normalization phase, lifting almost all virus-related restrictions.

However, seeking to limit the spread of the Delta variant, the country suspended flights from India and required COVID-19 test results within 72 hours before departure for travelers from the UK, Iran, Egypt, and Singapore.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.13 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 192.17 million cases reported, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.