Number of jabs administered exceeds 100 million

ANKARA

The number of COVID-19 vaccines Turkey has administered has surpassed 100 million doses, with nearly 40 million people having received two doses, data from the country’s Health Ministry have shown.

Turkey, with a population of some 84 million, launched its inoculation program against the coronavirus in mid-January. It has been using the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and the Chinese company Sinovac.

Around 51 million people have received their first doses of the jab, while more than 9 million have been given their third shots.

Nearly 90 percent of active cases in hospitals are people who have not been vaccinated or received only one jab, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a statement released after a Science Board meeting on Sept. 8

He noted that only 10 percent of fully vaccinated people are currently receiving hospital treatment, adding that the COVID-19 booster shot increases protection against the disease.

“It is also expected that those who had received two doses of mRNA vaccines would need a booster shot five-six months after they got the second dose.”

Some 6 million people are eligible to receive their booster shots, Koca stated, calling them on to “not waste time” to receive their jabs.

The minister also warned that the public is largely ignoring anti-virus rules.

“Face masks, social distancing and hygiene are a shield [against the coronavirus]. We should not compromise adhering to those basic rules, especially when millions of students are back in school for face-to-face education,” Koca said.

Turkey has tightened some measures to encourage people to get their jabs, by making it mandatory for the unvaccinated to provide negative PCR test results to use public transport for intercity travel or to attend social event, such as concerts.