Almost 140 mln coronavirus vaccine shots given in Turkey so far

Turkey has administered more than 139 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January 2021, according to official figures released on Saturday.

More than 57.2 million people have received the first jab, while over 51 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

The country has also given third booster shots to more than 23.3 million people.

Separately, the ministry confirmed 63,967 new coronavirus infections, 177 related deaths, and 52,016 recoveries over the past day.

As many as 384,263 virus tests were done in the past 24 hours.

Earlier this week, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the lifting of quarantine requirements for those with three vaccine shots if they come into contact with COVID-19 positive people.

The PCR test requirement for those who come into contact with others infected with the virus was also lifted. "From now on, PCR tests will only be conducted on people showing symptoms," he said.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 5.5 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 323 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.