Turkey has given over 82.6M coronavirus vaccine shots so far

By Dilan Pamuk, Seda Sevencan, and Busra Nur Cakmak

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (AA) – Turkey has administered over 82.65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to official figures released on Friday.

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 43.71 million people have gotten their first doses, while more than 32.42 million are now fully vaccinated.

Turkey is also administering third COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, and over 6.51 million such doses have been given.

To date, 70.41% of the country's adult population has received at least one dose of the two-step vaccines.

The ministry also confirmed 21,372 new infections and 157 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 16,492 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 4.34 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 205.75 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.​​​​​​​