The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Turkey has decreased to below 10,000 for the first time since the beginning of the March 1 nationwide lockdown, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Thursday.
After a meeting of the country’s Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, Koca said in a press conference that the daily cases are now below 10,000 after a 17-day full lockdown that ended early this week, also noting that the vaccination rate for over-65s has reached 84%.
With the declining coronavirus cases thanks to a strict lockdown in Turkey, the country entered a 15-day period of gradual lifting of restrictions as of early Monday.
Koca said that Turkey has the potential to vaccinate more than 1.5 million people per day and the national COVID-19 vaccine will enter Phase 3 trials at the beginning of June.
If the trials conclude successfully, the national vaccine may be used via emergency use approval by September, the health minister noted.
Turkey will continue vaccinating people gradually, going down to age 20 in June if there is no problem with vaccine supplies, he added.
