Nearly 95% of patients in intensive care not vaccinated for COVID-19 in Turkey’s Erzurum

By Ilhami Erkilic

ERZURUM, Turkey (AA) - The occupancy rate at intensive care units in Turkey’s eastern Erzurum province reached 90% during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a health official.

Nearly 95% of patients in intensive care do not have the COVID-19 vaccine, Ibrahim Hakki Tor, a faculty member at Erzurum City Hospital told Anadolu Agency.

“I believe that as the vaccination rate increases, there will be no closure and restrictions in the city, and the burden on the health community will decrease accordingly,” said Tor.

Tor noted that in the early stages of the pandemic, the rate of the elderly population was high in intensive care units.

“As time progressed, we carried out a serious vaccination campaign for our elderly population across the country, and accordingly, we observed a significant decrease in the elderly population hospitalized in the intensive care units,” stressed Tor.

He emphasized that despite the high occupancy rates in the intensive care units, there was no shortage of intensive care beds in the city.

Turkey has administered nearly 109.5 million coronavirus vaccine jabs since the country launched an immunization drive in January, according to figures released Thursday.

According to data, 86.74% of Turkey’s adult population has received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine.

The ministry recorded 29,104 new virus cases, 216 fatalities and 32,119 recoveries in the past 24 hours.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz.