COVID-19 in Turkey | ‘Over half of active cases are younger than 30’

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca has released a written statement following the Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board meeting.

At the virtual meeting yesterday (October 6), the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the distribution of COVID-19 cases and inpatients and the third vaccine dose were discussed, according to Koca.

The Minister has announced that as of yesterday, over 50 percent of the COVID-19 active cases are younger than 30 years old. He has explained this age distribution by indicating that "the ones aged 18 and over have been prioritized in Turkey's vaccination program".

Minister Koca has added that "even though the young account for a big share of the active COVID-19 cases in Turkey, this situation has not been reflected in hospitalization or intensive care."

'Majority of deaths older than 70'

Stressing that the young play a role in transmitting the disease to families and elders, Koca has indicated that the people aged 70 and over have the highest share in the COVID-19 deaths over the past month.

As indicated by Koca, having 28-30 thousand new cases a day for 10 days means nearly 300 thousand active cases. "We need to be aware that this situation is a critical load," he has noted, adding, "The fact that the current active cases are young people does not strain the healthcare system, but having such a high number of infected people is still not acceptable."

'3rd dose not necessary' for mRNA

Koca has indicated that the possible need for giving the third dose to the people vaccinated with both doses of an mRNA vaccine, with Pfizer-BioNTech in Turkey's case, was also discussed at the meeting.

"As we announced before, considering that our citizens who have been vaccinated with 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine were vaccinated four months ago on average, it has been considered that the vaccine is still protective," Health Minister Koca has said about the issue.

Noting that they are still examining the ones who have caught the virus despite getting vaccinated, Koca has stated, "For the time being, there is no situation in which our citizens who have been vaccinated with 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine require the third dose."

Koca has reiterated his call to the ones vaccinated with an inactive vaccine, Sinovac's vaccine in Turkey's case, to get their booster shots either with a 3rd inactive vaccine or with an mRNA vaccine. (KÖ/SD)