ANKARA: Turkey on Friday began administering Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 shots, introducing a second vaccine in its campaign that began in mid-January, as new cases reached record highs.
Turkey has so far delivered 16.5 million vaccine doses nationwide, including more than 7 million people who have received a second dose of the shots developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech.
The rollout has so far included those over 60 years of age, health personnel and other priority groups.
A total of 2.8 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have arrived in Turkey, with that number expected to reach 4.5 million in the coming days, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.
People can choose which vaccine they would like to receive when their turn comes, Koca said, adding that the aim is to vaccinate a majority of the population by June.
Emre Yavuz said he and his wife received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine because their daughter studies in Europe, which he said may not allow in those who receive the Sinovac vaccine.
“There is a debate in the European Union about whether to accept this (Sinovac) or not. Therefore, I chose this to be on the safe side,” he said, after receiving his first shot at the Ankara City Hospital.
Turkey recently imposed new weekend lockdowns in most provinces, as cases reached all-time highs nationwide. On Thursday, 40,806 new cases were recorded, the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic.
The total number of cases stood at 3.358 million as of Thursday, with the death toll at 31,713.
Turkey currently ranks fifth globally for daily cases based on a seven-day average, according to a Reuters tally.
Turkey begins administering Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 shots
https://arab.news/97jvv
Turkey begins administering Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 shots
- Rollout has so far included those over 60 years of age, health personnel and other priority group
- Turkey recently imposed new weekend lockdowns in most provinces, as cases reached all-time highs nationwide
Fledgling radio station aims to be ‘voice of the people’ in Gaza
- The electricity crisis is one of the most serious and difficult problems in the Gaza Strip, says Shereen Khalifa Broadcaster
DEIR EL-BALAH: From a small studio in the central city of Deir El-Balah, Sylvia Hassan’s voice echoes across the Gaza Strip, broadcast on one of the Palestinian territory’s first radio stations to hit the airwaves after two years of war.
Hassan, a radio host on fledgling station “Here Gaza,” delivers her broadcast from a well-lit room, as members of the technical team check levels and mix backing tracks on a sound deck. “This radio station was a dream we worked to achieve for many long months and sometimes without sleep,” Hassan said.
“It was a challenge for us, and a story of resilience.”
Hassan said the station would focus on social issues and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which remains grave in the territory despite a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas since October.
“The radio station’s goal is to be the voice of the people in the Gaza Strip and to express their problems and suffering, especially after the war,” said Shereen Khalifa, part of the broadcasting team.
“There are many issues that people need to voice.” Most of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people were displaced at least once during the gruelling war.
Many still live in tents with little or no sanitation.
The war also decimated Gaza’s telecommunications and electricity infrastructure, compounding the challenges in reviving the territory’s local media landscape. “The electricity problem is one of the most serious and difficult problems in the Gaza Strip,” said Khalifa.
“We have solar power, but sometimes it doesn’t work well, so we have to rely on an external generator,” she added.
The station’s launch is funded by the EU and overseen by Filastiniyat, an organization that supports Palestinian women journalists, and the media center at the An-Najah National University in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.
The station plans to broadcast for two hours per day from Gaza and for longer from Nablus. It is available on FM and online.
Khalifa said that stable internet access had been one of the biggest obstacles in setting up the station, but that it was now broadcasting uninterrupted audio.
The Gaza Strip, a tiny territory surrounded by Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea, has been under Israeli blockade even before the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to strictly control the entry of all goods and people to the territory.
“Under the siege, it is natural that modern equipment necessary for radio broadcasting cannot enter, so we have made the most of what is available,” she said.
