Turkish teams brave snowy roads to vaccinate elderly

By Mehmet Emin Gurbuz

BOLU, Turkey (AA) - Medical teams in northwestern Turkey rushed on Thursday to vaccinate the region's senior residents despite harsh winter conditions.

Teams from the Refika Baysal Community Health Center began preparations in the early morning hours to deliver vaccines to locals in the mountain villages of Bolu province who could not get to a vaccination facility by their own means.

Fatma Emin Garip, 78, and her husband Mehmet, 85, received their second doses of the vaccine at their home in Kuzfindik, to where a team traversed some parts of the village roads on foot, braving some 25 centimeters (10 inches) of snow in some places.

Bolu Governor Ahmet Umit told Anadolu Agency that 43,200 people had been vaccinated in the province.

Umit said that while there were 180 medical teams in the same number of locations, 45 additional teams were helping people who could not leave their villages due to old age or illness.

On Wednesday, Turkey reported 11,520 new coronavirus cases, including 689 symptomatic patients.

The country started easing weekend curfews as of Monday, while continuing weeknight curfews to stem the virus' spread.