Turkey strives to achieve mass immunity against the coronavirus by adding more to its inventory of vaccines. However, the vaccination campaign, which has reached nearly 25 million doses, has eluded a group so far: children.
Professor Hasan Tezer, a member of the Health Ministry’s Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, whose recommendations are adopted in the fight against the pandemic, says to achieve mass immunity children should be vaccinated too.
“Children make up 20% of the population that needs to achieve an immunity rate of 70%. They may recover easily when infected but they occasionally act as spreaders. It is important to have them vaccinated to prevent this,” he told Demirören News Agency (DHA) Sunday.
The country started its vaccination campaign in January with health care workers. Elderly citizens were prioritized next. After the older population had their first shots, the campaign has now expanded to people at the age of 55 and above – the youngest group eligible for inoculation so far. The government plans to further lower this age, to 40 and above, by the end of June. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca says they plan to include everyone at the age of 18 and above to be eligible for the vaccine this summer. Still, there have been no plans to include children in the vaccination.
