Turkey lowers coronavirus vaccine eligibility age to 40

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said that those at the age of 40 and above are now eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine.

Sunday June 13 2021 01:11 pm

Duvar English - Anadolu Agency

Turkey has lowered the vaccine eligibility age to 40, the Turkish health minister announced on June 13.

“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 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, data showed.

Turkey reported 6,076 new coronavirus cases, including 503 symptomatic patients, over the last 24 hours on Jun 12. The number of new cases on June 11 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.