UPDATE - Turkey has administered over 65M COVID-19 vaccine shots

UPDATES FIGURES, ADDS DAILY VIRUS NUMBERS

By Beyza Binnur Donmez and Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has administered more than 65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to figures released on Friday.

The country is continuing its intensive vaccination campaign to curb the virus’s spread, with all people aged 18 and over currently eligible for vaccine shots.

According to the Health Ministry, over 39.27 million people have received their first dose, while more than 22 million are fully vaccinated.

To date, over 63.26% of the adult population has received at least one vaccine dose.

People above the age of 50 along with health care staff across Turkey have been receiving their third COVID-19 vaccine dose since the beginning of the month.

The ministry also confirmed 11,094 new infections and 60 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 5,215 more patients recovered.

With cases dropping and an expedited vaccination drive, on July 1 Turkey entered a normalization phase, 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 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 taken within 72 hours before their flight.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.13 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 192.8 million cases reported, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.