Turkey has administered over 62.32M COVID-19 vaccine shots

ANKARA

Turkey has administered nearly 63.32 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to figures released on Sunday.

The country continues its intensive vaccination campaign to curb the virus’ spread, as all residents 18 and over are eligible for vaccine shots.

According to Health Ministry data, nearly 38.94 million people have gotten their first dose, while over 20.74 million have received their second.​​​​​​​

Over 5.55 million vaccine doses were administered over the last week, in a country of some 83.6 million people.

To date, over 62.74% of the adult population has received at least one vaccine dose.

The ministry also confirmed 7,680 new infections and 66 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 5,835 more patients recovered.

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 virus’ Delta variant, the country has suspended flights from India, where the strain was first detected.

Meanwhile, arrivals from the UK, Iran, Egypt, and Singapore are required to have negative COVID-19 test results from within 72 hours before their departure.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.08 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 190.18million cases reported, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.