Turkey now gives booster shots to people vaccinated at least 3 months ago

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - File

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The Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board met to discuss the omicron strain of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), vaccination program and the course of the pandemic yesterday (December 15).

In a statement following the meeting, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that the current situation regarding the omicron variant is not worrisome. Although the new variant spreads more swiftly, no record of higher severity of illness has been reported so far, the statement has said.

Underlining the importance of vaccination in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement has read: "Strengthening immunization shield through vaccination stands out among the measures that can be taken in case omicron becomes the dominant variant."

A booster vaccine shot will be available for citizens who received their last dose at least 3 months ago in order to stem the spread of the virus.

Number of cases per 100 thousand

Earlier in the day yesterday (December 15), Health Minister Fahrettin Koca also shared the map showing the number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey per 100 thousand people by provinces in the week of November 27 - December 3, 2021. While the highest number of cases was in Osmaniye province last week, it ranked second this week with a decrease of 131.98.

The highest increase in the number of cases per 100 thousand was in Çanakkale (472.53 in total) this week with an increase of 92.32.

The highest drop in the number of cases was seen in Dersim province (297.21 in total), where the number of cases dropped by 162.98.

The number of cases was also on the decrease in the three metropolitan cities: It dropped from 202.88 to 182.37 in the capital city of Ankara, from 287.40 to 269.58 in İstanbul and from 70.65 to 69.58 in İzmir.

According to the map, the number of cases per 100 thousand people decreased in a week in 61 of the 81 provinces of Turkey.

The number of cases increased in the remaining 20 provinces. In Çanakkale, Kırklareli and Edirne, the number of cases per 100 thousand people increased by more than 50. The amount of increase in the number of COVID-19 cases per 100 thousand in a week were as follows:

Çanakkale (an increase of 92.32 cases), Kırklareli (76.3 cases), Edirne (66.46), Tekirdağ (48.29), Eskişehir (24.19), Artvin (20.65), Sinop (20.33), Denizli (15.08), Giresun (14.49), Gümüşhane (12), Rize (11.33), Iğdır (9.94), Ardahan (9.36), Kırşehir (9.05), Bilecik (7.32), Batman (6.29), Burdur (5.99), Hakkari (4.63), Şırnak (2.97), Aksaray (2.13). (TP/SD)