Turkey Pushes For Higher Vaccination Rate With 115 Mln Doses Administered

Muhammad Irfan Published October 25, 2021 | 05:30 PM

ISTANBUL, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Oct, 2021 ) :Turkey has administered over 115 million COVID-19 vaccine doses since starting its vaccination campaign in January, the country's health ministry announced Monday.

More than 55.18 million people have received their first doses, more than 48.13 million have taken their second shots, and nearly 11 million have received their third booster jabs, the ministry's data showed.

The data indicated that 57.9 percent of the country's 83-million population have been vaccinated with two doses, but were still deemed as inadequate for herd immunity.

Speaking to Haberturk broadcaster, Levent Akin, a member of Turkey's Corona-virus Scientific Advisory board, called for a higher vaccination coverage in Turkey, considering that the contagious Delta variant has been the dominant strain across the country since May.

"The only way to end the pandemic is to be fully vaccinated," said Akin, noting that the hospitalization rate is significantly low among those who have received two or three doses, even if they were infected with the corona-virus.

The number of daily cases has fluctuated within the 25,000-30,000 range for the last couple of months across the country, while the death toll has been around 200.