'95% of hospitalized patients in Turkey not COVID-19 vaccinated'

Nearly all of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a statement late Wednesday.

Urging people to get vaccinated in a news conference following a virtual meeting of the Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, Koca also added: "Currently, about 87% of COVID-19 active cases are among people who have not been fully vaccinated."

Also, pointing to a "very rapid increase" in new infections in the last two weeks, Koca said that the active cases, the rate of those who are fully vaccinated and got infected, which are known as "breakthrough infections," is less than 5%.

Turkey has administered more than 69.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to figures released Wednesday.

The country continues its intensive vaccination campaign to curb the virus' spread, as it expands vaccine eligibility to everyone 18 and above.

According to Health Ministry data, over 40.1 million people have received their first dose, while over 25 million are fully vaccinated.

More than 1 million vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours, the figures showed.

The ministry also confirmed 22,291 new infections and 76 coronavirus-related deaths over the past day, while as many as 4,197 more patients recovered.

Amid a nationwide drop in cases and an expedited vaccination drive, Turkey entered a new normalization phase on July 1, lifting almost all virus-related restrictions.

However, seeking to limit the spread of the virus' delta variant, the country suspended flights from India and required arrivals from the U.K., Iran, Egypt, and Singapore to have negative COVID-19 test results taken within 72 hours prior.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed more than 4.18 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with over 195.63 million cases reported, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.