Turkey has given over 77.6M coronavirus vaccine shots so far

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has administered over 77.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to official figures released on Monday.

The country continues its intensive vaccination campaign to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as everyone 16 and over is eligible for vaccine shots.

According to the Health Ministry, over 42.15 million people have gotten their first doses, while some 29.66 million are fully vaccinated.

Turkey is also administering third COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, and over 5.77 million such doses have been given.

To date, 67.89% of the country's adult population has received at least one dose of the two-step vaccines.

The ministry also confirmed 23,731 new infections and 117 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 7,365 more patients have recovered.

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

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.29 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with over 203 million cases reported, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.