Turkey aims completing jabbing over 40’s by July

ISTANBUL

Turkey aims to complete the vaccination of citizens over the age of 40 by the end of May or June at the latest, according to Fahrettin Koca, the country’s health minister.

“Our main goal is to complete the vaccination of those over the age of 40 by the end of May, by the end of June at the latest, and our second goal is to complete the vaccination of those over the age of 20 by July,” Koca said in an interview with daily Hürriyet.

“All of our efforts are to achieve these two main goals. We are striving for this,” Koca added.

Underlining that there are various difficulties in front of this target, Koca said that he believes that results will be obtained and that citizens over the age of 40 can be inoculated under all conditions by the end of June.

He also pointed out that the upcoming Islamic holy month of Ramadan should be turned into an opportunity.

Turkey, with a population of 83 million, has administered over 18.5 million vaccine jabs since it began a mass vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, according to official figures.

More than 10.8 million people have received their first doses, while second doses have been given to over 7.7 million people.

Certain additional measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 may be rolled out during Ramadan, according to an expert.

“It is seen that certain additional measures may be brought to the agenda during the month of Ramadan,” associate professor Afşin Emre Kayıpmaz from the Health Ministry’s Science Board has said.

Noting that he believes that the country may be in a much better position during Eid al-Fitr, Kayıpmaz pointed out that working remotely in public institutions and the private sector or some lockdowns may be considered for the month.

Ramadan will begin on April 13 and last until May 12.

Meanwhile, Turkey has experienced a sharp rise in both the number of daily cases and the deaths from COVID-19 in the past week.

Extra number of deaths

Some 36,500-extra number of deaths were detected in Turkey during the pandemic period, according to a research and modeling after examining official data.

Speaking to Milliyet daily, the Turkish Medical Association’s head of the public health unit, Nasır Nesanır, reminded that 20,881 people died due to COVID-19 between March 11 and Dec. 31, 2020, according to official figures.

Nesanır pointed out that the cause of all deaths was not COVID-19, but some deaths were caused by disruptions in the health care system and because citizens did not go for routine doctor checks as frequently as before.

“According to global scale data, 66-70 percent of the extra deaths are due to COVID-19, and 30 percent are caused by the avoidance of health services or other disruptions,” he said.

Stating that Istanbul was the province with the highest number of deaths, Nesanır said there were an extra 20,000 deaths in the metropolis last year and that there was a significant increase in deaths especially in November and December.