Turkey: Vaccination campaign reaches most remote places

By Savas Guler

KONYA, Turkey (AA) - As part of Turkey's vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus, health workers vaccinated an 86-year-old woman living at an altitude of 1,950 meters (6,398 feet) in a remote village of the central Konya province.

A mobile vaccination team of the provincial health directorate reached Zeynep Kara, who lives in the Gerez village of the Hadim district.

To reach the village located at an altitude of 1,950 meters (6,398 feet), the health team hiked through a three-kilometer (1.86-mile) path.

Kara, who has never visited a doctor or a hospital, had a jab for the first time in her life and thanked the health workers for reaching her to administer the vaccine.

On Jan. 14, Turkey began a mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19, starting with healthcare workers along with top officials to encourage public confidence in the vaccines.

According to the Health Ministry's latest data, Turkey has administered over 3.72 million jabs since the start of the vaccination drive.

The second dose of the vaccine is administered 28 days apart and those who recovered from COVID-19 will not be vaccinated in four to six months following their recovery.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin in Ankara