COVID-19: Over 29 million vaccine shots in Turkey so far
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Turkey has so far administered over 29.25 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass inoculation drive in mid-January, according to official figures released on Tuesday (June 1).
More than 16.6 million people have received their first doses, while over 12.5 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.
As of 11.49 p.m. on June 1, 16 million 669 thousand 103 people received the first dose and 12 million 586 thousand 561 people received the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines. 29 million 255 thousand 664 vaccines have been administered in Turkey so far.
According to the table, the highest number of vaccines received is in İstanbul with 4 million 784 thousand 145 doses, which is followed by the capital city of Ankara with 2 million 420 thousand 306 doses.
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.
According to the figures shared by the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 billion 579 million 416 thousand 705 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered across the world as of May 30, 2021.
'Turkey to receive 12 million BioNTech vaccines'
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey will receive 12 million doses of BioNTech vaccine gradually till next weekend.
"In our talk with Uğur Sahin, he said he got the permission to export 12 million doses of vaccine," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters following a news conference after Monday's Cabinet meeting.
"They said, 'Starting this week, we are sending these 12 million vaccines gradually till next weekend'," Fahrettin Koca said.
He added that if delivery takes place as planned, people as young as 20 years old can start getting vaccinated at the end of June.
On removal of masks, he said that at least 60 percent of the people should be vaccinated to establish public immunity.
"We are not going to recommend removal of masks until widespread vaccination is conducted," he noted, adding that only those who are vaccinated then may be exempt from the mask-wearing obligation.
Sinovac vaccine approved by the WHO
On the other side, the WHO on June 1 approved the vaccine made by China's Sinovac for emergency use against COVID-19. It is the eighth coronavirus vaccine authorized by the global health organization.
One of the two vaccines currently in use in Turkey, the CoronaVac is produced by the Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac.
In assessing Sinovac's vaccine, the WHO said it included on-site inspections of the production facility. "The Sinovac-CoronaVac product is an inactivated vaccine. Its easy storage requirements make it very manageable and particularly suitable for low-resource settings," it said. (KÖ/SD)