Starting on Sunday, people at the age of 30 and above are now eligible for coronavirus shots in Turkey, instilling hope for the younger population of a country embattled by the pandemic. The arrival of new shipments of vaccines from abroad will also bolster Turkey on its march toward achieving its goal of mass immunity.
As of Sunday, more than 41 million doses had been administered in the country’s inoculation campaign, which started in January 2021. A total of 26.7 million people have received their first doses, while another 14.3 million people have now had both of the doses required for protection against the disease.
After a relatively slow start to the vaccination campaign, with challenges due to delays in vaccine shipments and an apparent hesitancy for jabs, Turkey started off the summer with a tremendous interest in the vaccination and a fast-paced campaign. In the span of a few weeks, the country’s Health Ministry expanded vaccination from the elderly to younger people and started including members of different occupations one after another regardless of their age. This sudden progress in the vaccination campaign, which went on to break records with more than 1 million jabs daily, indicates that the country managed to secure more vaccine supplies and that the country is now closer to reaching the youngest age groups by the end of this month.
