ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey plans to vaccinate 50 million people against COVID-19 by autumn in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday, after the number of daily cases surged to their highest level this year.
Turkey, with a population of 83 million, has carried out 10.56 million inoculations since Jan. 14 when it began the nationwide rollout of COVID-19 shots developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
“If we can vaccinate 50 million of our population before autumn as we plan, the pandemic will no longer be a heavy burden for us,” Koca said in a live televised statement on the anniversary of the first COVID-19 case recorded in Turkey.
There have been 2.82 million recorded coronavirus cases in Turkey and more than 29,000 people have died there due to COVID-19, health ministry data shows.
Koca said 42 of Turkey’s provinces were currently assessed to be low and medium-risk areas, while 39 provinces were registered as high or very high-risk areas.
The number of new cases stood at 14,556 on Wednesday, the highest since end-2020 and nearly double the levels a month ago. Ten days earlier, President Tayyip Erdogan announced an easing of measures to curb the pandemic.
Erdogan announced a partial opening of schools, cafes and restaurants on Monday last week. Ankara also eased weekend lockdowns, after the number of new cases fell below 10,000 daily.
(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Ece Toksabay)
