Turkey has given over 80M coronavirus vaccine shots so far

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has administered over 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, the country’s health minister announced on Wednesday.

In a Twitter post, Fahrettin Koca said more than 50% of the population aged 18 and over have been fully vaccinated.

More than 42.85 million people have received their first doses, while over 31.02 million have been fully vaccinated, according to the Health Ministry data.

Turkey is also administering third COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, and at least 6 million such doses have been given.

Amid a nationwide fall in virus cases and an expedited vaccination drive, Turkey has entered a new normalization phase, lifting almost all virus-related restrictions.

But seeking to limit the spread of the virus' Delta variant, it 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 the last 72 hours.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.31 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with some 204.18 million cases reported worldwide, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.