Turkey one of world's leading vaccinators: WHO official

IZMIR, Turkey

Turkey is one of the leading countries in vaccination efforts against the coronavirus, the country representative for Turkey of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.

"We observe a very positive trend with the rate of vaccination in Turkey," Batyr Berdyklychev told Anadolu Agency in an interview. "Turkey is one of the leading countries in terms of the vaccination coverage."

Vaccination has been made available for all age groups in the country, while many people are receiving their second doses, with the third booster dose on the way, Berdyklychev said: "This is extremely important."

"To win this COVID-19 war, everyone needs to be vaccinated," he urged.

"The more we allow the spread, the more people would get sick, and more people would unfortunately die," he said, warning that the Delta variant of COVID-19, first detected in India, posed another risk.

"Therefore, it is important to continue this vaccination, and cover as many people as possible to stop transmission," said Berdyklychev.

He also praised celebrities encouraging people to receive vaccines, saying: "We see how necessary it is."

Turkey has administered over 52 million doses of vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to official figures released on Saturday.

More than 35.6 million people have received their first doses, while over 15.5 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

Turkey's overall case tally on Friday was over 5.43 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 49,829.

*Beyza Binnur Donmez in Ankara contributed to the story