Turkey targets to vaccinate 60% of population: Health minister

Turkey targets to vaccine 60% of its population, with the second doses of vaccines for people who got the first jab starting on Feb. 11, the country's health minister said on Feb. 10.

Addressing a news conference in the capital Ankara following the meeting of the Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, Fahrettin Koca said teachers, especially those who will join in-person education, will start receiving vaccine shots towards the end of February.

Turkey announced last week that village schools and kindergartens will resume in-person education on Feb. 15.

Starting on March 1, primary schools, including all grades, will resume in-person education twice a week.

Also, schools will open their doors for students of grades 8 and 12 on March 1 to help them prepare for high school and university entrance exams.

Koca said Turkey ensured at least 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and reached an agreement on over 100 million doses of vaccines in total. He added the country will receive 500,000-800,000 doses of BioNTech vaccine in February, with the total number reaching 4.5-5 million by end of March.

"Our citizens must know that we are trying to buy the vaccine from all firms that can provide it until March or April," he explained.

The minister called on the senior statesmen and the Cabinet members to receive the vaccine shots as of Saturday.

Local vaccine candidates

Phase-2 human trials of leading local vaccine candidate started on Wednesday, the minister said, and added that phase-1 studies for at least three more local vaccine candidates will start in around 10 days.

As of next Monday, the average number of cases for the last seven days will be broadcast live based on provinces, he...