Governor: Half of people in 55-59 age group not vaccinated in İstanbul

Photo: AA/File

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Only 48.51 percent of the people in the 55-59 age group have been administered one dose of coronavirus vaccine in İstanbul, the city's governor Ali Yerlikaya announced yesterday (May 3).

Among those over 65 years of age, 81.75 percent received the first dose and 73.43 received two doses, Yerlikaya said on Twitter.

A total of 3.87 million vaccine jabs have been administered in the city so far, according to Health Ministry figures.

Apart from specific risk groups, only those older than 55 are currently eligible for coronavirus vaccination in Turkey.

With a population of 15.4 million, İstanbul is the largest city of Turkey. It's also been the hardest hit city by the pandemic.

CLICK - 25 percent did not get vaccinated despite being eligible

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca yesterday urged the people to get their jabs, saying, "By the end of June, we want to vaccinate our citizens over age 40, we're committed to this, and we also want to vaccinate our citizens over age 18 and our young people during the summer.

"So now we're talking about 240 million vaccines in total. 100 million of them are (Chinese) Sinovac ... With a number of positive developments in the coming days, we estimate that shipments can start again this month.

"Apart from this, 50 million doses of the (Russian) Sputnik V vaccine were agreed to be delivered over six months, as well as a contract for BioNTech in the form of 90 million doses, up from 30 million.

"I can tell you the amount that has become clear in the form of 30 million doses in June. Thus, within three or four months – that is, the summer – we're trying to vaccinate all our citizens aged 18 and over." (EKN/VK)