Sinovac

Vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusals appear to be main stumbling blocks in achieving herd immunity, an expert has said.

Around 8.6 million people in Turkey have skipped their second and third doses of the vaccines against COVID-19, the country's health minister has said.

"You need to get your shots on time if we are to benefit more from power of the vaccinations," Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter on Nov. 11, urging people to stick to the vaccination program.

Turkey will offer booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to all its citizens aged 18 and older starting on Nov. 11, the country's Health Minister has announced.

Speaking after the Health Ministry's Science Board meeting held on Nov. 11, Fahrettin Koca reminded that the country was already giving the third dose of the vaccine to those who are aged above 60.

Turkey's vaccination drive needs to be accelerated in order to reach herd immunity, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said. 

Turkey's health minister has urged the public to volunteer in studies for the development of the country's own coronavirus vaccine, Turkovac.

In the phase 3 trials, authorities are also giving the local jab candidate to volunteers as the booster shot.

Some 13 million people in Turkey have not yet got a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine even though they are eligible for the jab, with a little more than 58 percent of the country's whole population having been given at least two doses of the vaccine.

Young people are appearing to be the main culprit for the spread of COVID-19 recently, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, noting that, however, most of the patients who are treated for the coronavirus in intensive care units are the elderly and those with chronic diseases. 

Some 5 million people who have already received two doses of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccines have skipped their third shot, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, urging them to get the booster shot as soon as possible.

Turkey is presently using both the mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and the Chinese company Sinovac's inactivated vaccine in its inoculation drive.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has called on university students to "immediately" get their vaccine shots against COVID-19, warning that the virus is spreading fast among the young population. 

Fully vaccinated travelers from dozens of more countries, including Turkey, will not be required to self-isolate in the U.K. starting next week, the British government has announced.