Turkey on Thursday saw fewer than 10,000 new coronavirus daily cases for the first time since March 1, said the country’s health minister, marking a key milestone in the country’s fight against coronavirus.
After a meeting of the country’s Scientific Committee, Fahrettin Koca told a press conference that the number of daily cases fell below 10,000 after a 17-day lockdown which ended early this week.
He stressed that Turkey has the potential to vaccinate more than 1.5 million people per day.
Koca added that Turkey could start Phase 3 studies of its national coronavirus vaccine at the beginning of June.
If the studies conclude successfully, national vaccines may be used with emergency use approval by September, Koca added.
“The vaccination rate for over-65s has reached 84%,” Koca said.
Turkey will continue vaccinating people gradually, going down to age 20 in June if there is no problem with vaccine supplies, he added.
Turkey will continue its fight against the pandemic with widespread vaccination and personal precautions such as wearing masks and maintaining social distance, he said.