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Since January 26, 2021, the Health Ministry of Turkey has been sharing the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered across the country on a provisional basis with a regularly updated map.
According to the data shared by the Ministry, as of 7.45 p.m. on June 22, 971 thousand 705 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, either that of Sinovac or Pfizer-BioNTech, were administered in Turkey in 24 hours.
While the number of people who received the first dose was 29 million 64 thousand 826 in total, the number of people who received both doses was 14 million 577 thousand 747 in total. The total number of vaccine doses administered thus far was 43 million 642 thousand 563.
Eligibility age dropped to 25
Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca has announced that the average age to get an appointment for vaccination has been dropped to 25 in Turkey as of today (June 23). President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also announced yesterday that they aimed to vaccinate everyone over the age of 18 within a few weeks.
Turkey's local vaccine candidate: 'Turkovac'
President Erdoğan also unveiled "Turkovac", the name for the country's indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
The vaccine development program has entered Phase 3 clinical trials on volunteers, starting at Ankara City Hospital in the country's capital, with President and AKP Chair Erdoğan attending via videoconference.
Speaking at the event, Health Minister Koca said that the vaccine candidate's safety and efficacy were proved in Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies. "Today, the vaccine has reached its final phase, which means its formulation will not change from now on," Koca indicated further.
"Now we will see the efficacy of the vaccine on volunteers during the Phase 3 trials. And we want to see the efficacy of the vaccine, which will be used widely afterwards," added the Health Minister.
According to Koca, while 40 thousand 800 volunteers were needed for the trials, 846 thousand 451 citizens applied to become volunteers.
Click here for all COVID-19 vaccine updates
Vaccination began in Turkey on January 13
The first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in Turkey on January 13, 2021 and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca was the first person to receive the vaccine in Turkey. To date, Turkey has been giving the Sinovac and BioNTech jabs, and signed an agreement for the Sputnik V vaccine.
Nearly 2.5 billion doses in the world
According to the figures shared by the World Health Organization (WHO), 2,414,347,324 doses of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines were administered across the world as of June 21, 2021.
Vaccine doses administered in TurkeyJune 22: The number of people who received the 1st dose: 29,064,826, The number of people who received the 2nd dose: 14,577,747, The total number of vaccine doses: 43,642,573 |
(KÖ/SD)
