Turkey has given over 81.4M coronavirus vaccine shots so far

More than 43M people got 1st doses, with nearly 32M fully vaccinated, according to Health Ministry

By Gozde Bayar, Burak Dag and Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey has administered over 81.48 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to official figures released on Thursday.

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 43.31 million people have gotten their first doses, while more than 31.81 million are now fully vaccinated.

Turkey is also administering third COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, and over 6.35 million such doses have been given.

To date, 69.79% of the country's adult population has received at least one dose of the two-step vaccines.

The ministry also confirmed 22,261 new infections and 138 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 15,685 more patients recovered.

Sharing the data for July 31 to Aug. 6 on Twitter, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the number of cases will decrease as more people receive at least two doses of vaccine.

The number of cases per 100,000 people was 182.21 in Istanbul – home to nearly one-fifth of Turkey's population – 184.58 in the capital Ankara, and 65.85 in the Aegean province of Izmir.

Turkey has entered a normalization phase in July amid a nationwide fall in virus cases and an expedited vaccination drive, 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 before their flight.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.32 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with nearly 205 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.

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