Bucking shortages, Turkey getting vaccines quickly

Even as most developed countries face shortages, Turkey is receiving COVID-19 vaccines rapidly and progressing with its public vaccination drive, the nation’s president said on Tuesday.

Turkey has managed to leave behind with minimal trouble a period in which even the most prosperous countries faced heartbreaking scenes, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in remarks in the capital Ankara.

Speaking at a ceremony where young people and disabled people were given government jobs, Erdoğan said Turkey has filled up to 82% of its disability employment quota in in the public sector.

From just 5,777 in 2002 – when the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power – "we boosted the number of disabled civil servants to 58,319,” he added.

On Monday, 6.5 million doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine arrived in Turkey, in the second shipment of a total 10 million doses.

Mass vaccinations began in Turkey on Jan. 14 after the first batch arrived on Dec. 30.

To boost public confidence in the vaccine, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were among the first to be vaccinated.

The government last year introduced nighttime and weekend curfews to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed more than 2.14 million lives in 192 countries and regions.

Over 99 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now over 55.1 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

The US, India and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of cases.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan