MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2021) Turkey may expect life to get back to normal in September after massive vaccination, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Tuesday.
"Our goal is to return to normal life in September," Koca said as cited by Turkish state channel TRT Haber.
He underlined that Turkey plans to launch intensive vaccination in June and July. At least 60% of the population need to be vaccinated for herd immunity. If herd immunity is achieved in Turkey, abolishing the mask requirement might be considered after September.
He also added that Turkey is currently testing three local vaccines, with one of them planned for rollout in September.
In Turkey, the measures against COVID-19 have been eased since June 1. Vaccination against the coronavirus began in January. More than 29 million people have been vaccinated and more than 12 million of those have received the second dose of a vaccine. The CoronaVac vaccine of the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech and the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have been used for vaccination. Turkey also allowed the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
