Turkey has given over 83.54M coronavirus vaccine shots so far

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has administered over 83.54 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to official figures released on Sunday.

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 44.02 million people have gotten their first doses, while more than 32.92 million are now fully vaccinated.

Turkey is also administering third COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, and over 6.61 million such doses have been given.

A total of 7.35 million vaccines including, first, second and third doses, were also administered within the last week.

To date, 70.92% of the country's adult population has received at least one dose of the two-step vaccines.

The ministry also confirmed 18,847 new infections and 154 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 14,426 more patients recovered.

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 4.35 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 207 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.