Rabia Iclal Turan and Handan Kazanci
November 10, 2021•Update: November 10, 2021
ANKARA
Turkey will start administering booster shots for citizens aged 18 and older beginning Thursday, the country's Health Minister said Wednesday.
Anyone older than 18 years of age who were administered an mRNA vaccine at least six months ago can receive "reminder shots,” Fahrettin Koca said.
Turkey has administered over 117.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January, according to official figures released on Wednesday.
More than 55.72 million people have been given a first vaccine dose, while over 49.4 million are fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.
Turkey has also given third booster shots to over 11.49 million people.
Separately, the ministry recorded 27,259 new coronavirus cases, 203 related deaths, and 27,513 recoveries over the past day.
As many as 358,251 new virus tests were done in the last 24 hours.
Turkey also continues its efforts to finish testing its locally developed Turkovac vaccine, which the president has vowed to share with the whole world once it is ready.
Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 5.06 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 251.64 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.
