Turkey aims to vaccinate 50 million by fall, health minister says
Turkey, a country of 89 million people, has so far administered more than 10.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
Turkey is on track to provide COVID-19 vaccines to 50 million people by the fall, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Thursday, the one-year anniversary of Turkey’s first-recorded coronavirus case.
“Turkey is among the fastest acting in the race for vaccine supplies,” Koca said in a televised statement. “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.”
The country of 89 million people began its nationwide vaccine drive in mid-January, with the priority given to frontline health care workers. As of Thursday, the country had administered more than 10.5 million doses of the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine, with more than 2 million people having received both jabs.
Koca said Turkey expects to have obtained 105 million doses by the end of May, which would be enough to provide two jabs to everyone over the age of 20.
