Over 129 million doses of vaccines given in Turkey

ISTANBUL

The number of vaccines administered against COVID-19 in Turkey has exceeded 129 million doses as the country’s health minister warned against dangers from the Omicron variant of the virus.

In a tweet he wrote on Dec. 26, Fahrettin Koca reminded that the Omicron strain started spreading in Turkey. “I want to repeat that getting the booster shot has become even more important,” the minister said.

Koca said last week that the Omicron strain accounted for more than 10 percent of new cases in the country’s populous cities.

To date, more than 17 million people have been given their first doses of the vaccine against COVID-19 in Turkey.

According to data from the Health Ministry, over 51 million people have received two doses of the jab, while nearly 57 million people have been given at least one dose of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, universities in Turkey are taking action against the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Some universities have already decided that students take classes, except for applied courses, online while others are assessing the situation to see if similar measures should be taken.

Students at Koç University in Istanbul will take their classes online until Jan. 2, 2022. The university took this decision following demands from students and after what it said was “a significant increase in cases on the campus.”

However, applied courses in the law and medical schools of the university will continue to be offered through in-class education. The final exams at the university, scheduled between Jan. 10 and Jan. 21 will also be held online.

Similarly, classes at Boğaziçi University will be held online until Jan. 4, and the university said some events could be postponed.

Meanwhile, students at other universities took to social media to demand more action against the Omicron strain.

Students at Hacettepe University in Ankara, which follows a hybrid education system, demanded that the exams of online classes be held online and professors should decide how those exams should be organized.