Over 129.9M coronavirus vaccine shots given in Turkey to date

Turkey has administered more than 129.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January, according to official figures released on Tuesday.

More than 56.8 million people have received a first jab, while over 51.4 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

Turkey has also given third booster shots to more than 17.9 million people.

The ministry also confirmed 32,176 new COVID-19 infections, 184 deaths, and 23,104 recoveries over the past day.

As many as 368,842 virus tests were done in the past 24 hours.

Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that there seems to be an upward trend in coronavirus cases due to the rapid spread of the omicron variant.

Koca called on people to get their booster shots.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 5.4 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 281.5 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.