Turkey lowers coronavirus vaccine eligibility age to 40

ISTANBUL

Turkey has lowered the vaccine eligibility age to 40, the Turkish health minister announced on Sunday.

“If you are 40 or older, you can make an appointment as of this morning. We expect 100% participation,” Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter.

Turkey administered over 33.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in mid-January, according to the Health Ministry data.

More than 19.69 million people have gotten their first doses, while over 13.65 million have been fully vaccinated, according to ministry data.

Turkey reported 6,076 new coronavirus cases, including 503 symptomatic patients, over the last 24 hours on Saturday. The number of new cases on Friday was 6,261.

The country's overall case tally is over 5.32 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 48,668 with 75 new fatalities.

To contain the virus, Turkey currently has a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. from Monday to Saturday, and a full lockdown on Sundays.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.79 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 175.6 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.