The vaccination programme began only recently which has fueled a certain amount of frustration from Turks who wonder why Turkey has fallen behind other countries on distributing doses. Right now, Turkey’s vaccination rate per capita is presently lower than its counterparts in the West at 1.4 per 100 people of a population of 82 million.


Haluk Özdalga, a former member of the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP), described how the Turkish vaccination has been the victim of government mismanagement. “The coronavirus vaccine program has been a complete failure in Turkey,” Özdalga told Turkey Abroad in a recent podcast. “There are not enough doses, delivery time for these doses is too late, and they only have one single company supplying it which has raised many risks.”