Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has urged people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, reminding that the deadline for teachers, school staff and intercity travelers to be inoculated or undergo regular PCR tests is nearing, Turkish media reported on Thursday.
“Teachers, school staff, concert and movie-goers and intercity travelers who haven’t been fully vaccinated will be required to undergo PCR tests as of Sept. 6 to monitor health status. Let’s get good results from PCR tests. Let’s get our vaccinations,” Koca tweeted on Thursday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Aug. 20 that Turkey will begin requiring PCR tests from teachers and other school personnel who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 as schools reopen next month.
Speaking following a cabinet meeting, Erdoğan said teachers and other school personnel who hadn’t received a vaccination will be asked to submit to a COVID-19 test at least twice a week when schools reopen on Sept. 6.
The president stated that the PCR test requirement would also be imposed on unvaccinated academics and university students in addition to people who travel domestically and those who attend public entertainment.
Underlining that the majority of people who have recently been hospitalized were unvaccinated, Erdoğan once again called on all people to be vaccinated immediately.
The Interior Ministry on Tuesday issued a circular specifying that the requirements for full vaccination or PCR tests will be applicable to people aged 18 and above.
Turkey has administered around 94.9 million vaccines against COVID-19, mainly China’s Coronavac and Pfizer-BioNTech, with 48.5 million people receiving one dose, some 37.3 million receiving two doses and 8.6 million receiving a third.
On Wednesday, the country reported 23.946 new infections and 290 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours.