Vaccination drive in Istanbul as infections surge

Turks in the country's largest city continued to get vaccinated against COVID-19 amid a surge of infections across the nation.

Turkish health ministry statistics registered nearly 40,000 new COVID-19 infections, more than double the number of cases a week ago. This level of infections was last seen at the end of April, when Turkey's strictest lockdown was announced.

So far, Turkey has not announced any restrictions other than urging people to wear masks and practice social distancing. Turkey has so far administered close to 130 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - including nearly 19 million booster shots.

Around 82% of the adult population has received two doses. The total death toll from the virus is 82,198, according to official statistics.