Turkey receives 3.5 mln more China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines

CAIRO - Turkey on Friday received the remaining part of the second shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. Meanwhile, Iran's total infections rose to 1,405,414.

A Turkish Airlines plane landed at Istanbul Airport early in the morning, carrying 3.5 million vaccines.

On Monday, Turkey received 6.5 million doses as the first part of the second planned consignment of a total of 10 million.

The mass vaccination program in the country started on Jan. 14 after the delivery of the first batch of 3 million doses from China at the end of December 2020.

Turkey reported 6,912 new COVID-19 cases, including 664 symptomatic patients, pushing its total confirmed cases up to 2,464,030.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 131 to 25,736, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,348,309, according to the Turkish Health Ministry.

According to the Health Ministry's data, nearly 1.8 million Turkish citizens have been vaccinated so far, and the program is going on as planned.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently announced that his country would get 50 million vaccines from China as part of the procurement plan in the first phase.

Iran's Health Ministry reported 6,573 daily COVID-19 cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,405,414.

The pandemic has so far claimed 57,807 lives in Iran, up by 71 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.

Of the newly infected, 650 were hospitalized, said Lari.

A total of 1,196,374 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 3,990 remain in intensive care units, she added.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 945 new COVID-19 cases and warned of a return of tight restrictions to prevent a possible increase in infections.

A statement by the ministry said that there was a slight increase in infections during the past two weeks, and "this may be the beginning of a new wave of the pandemic that may be worse than the previous one."

"We warn against a return to the increase in infections and the accompanying increase in deaths, which may force health authorities to take more restrictive measures, such as partial curfew and closing crowded facilities," the statement said.

A separate statement by the ministry reported 945 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide number of cases to 618,147. The ministry also reported 12 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,036.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 9,177 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally in the country to 633,991.

The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 4,700 after 88 new fatalities were added, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 1,178 to 1,200, out of 1,774 hospitalized patients.

The total recoveries rose to 558,249, with 12,868 newly recovered cases, while the active cases decreased to 71,042.

The number of people vaccinated against the COVID-19 in Israel has surpassed 2.96 million, or 31.8 percent of its total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020, the ministry said.

The Qatari health ministry announced 341 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 150,621.

It said 142 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 145,556, while the fatalities remained 248 for the 12th day running, according to a ministry statement.

Morocco on Friday reported 851 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections in the country to 469,990. The death toll rose to 8,246 with 22 new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while 738 people are in intensive care units.

Lebanon recorded 3,125 new COVID-19 cases bringing the total number of infections to 296,282, the Health Ministry reported. The death toll from the virus went up by 59 to 2,680.

Lebanese authorities called on citizens to register their names on the COVID-19 vaccines platform launched by the government earlier this week to gain access to the vaccine.