As Turkiye reached 139 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered since it launched an immunization drive in January 2021, it removed the requirement for unvaccinated individuals to take the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for COVID-19 before using public transportation or attending large gatherings on Saturday.
More than 57.2 million people have received the first jab, while over 51 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.
The country has also given third booster shots to more than 23.3 million people.
Separately, the ministry confirmed 63,967 new coronavirus infections, 177 related deaths, and 52,016 recoveries over the past day.
As many as 384,263 virus tests were done in the past 24 hours.
Turkish Airlines announces Saturday that passengers no longer need to submit negative PCR test results for domestic flights on Turkish Airlines.
The condition has been removed “in line with the decision taken by competent authorities,” Bilal Eksi, general manager of the national flag carrier, said on Twitter.
“Submitting the HES Code will be sufficient,” he added, referring to Turkey’s coronavirus contact tracing system.
Earlier this week, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the lifting of quarantine requirements for those with three vaccine shots if they come into contact with COVID-19 positive people.
The PCR test requirement for those who come into contact with others infected with the virus was also lifted. "From now on, PCR tests will only be conducted on people showing symptoms," he said.
Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 5.5 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 323 million cases reported worldwide, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
