Provinces in Turkey with Kurdish majorities have the lowest rates of vaccination in the country, according to data from the Turkish Health Ministry.
The Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reports that data released on 6 February by the Turkish Health Ministry and Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) points to an inequality regarding the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines among the provinces of Turkey. The least vaccinated areas were in the eastern provinces where mostly Kurdish people lived.
Hakkari has the lowest rate
The data shows the average vaccination rate across Turkey is 4.01%. Hakkari (Colemerg) province has the lowest vaccination rate at 1.27%. Other provinces with low rates are Ağrı (Agiri) (1.34%), Şırnak (Şirnex) (1.46%), Siirt (Sêrt) (1.67%), Şanlıurfa (Riha) (1.76%), Mardin (Merdîn) (1.7%), Muş (1.77%), Bitlis (Bedlîs) (2.11%), Bingöl (2.11%), Van (Wan) (2.32%) and Diyarbakır (Amed) (2.64%).
The highest vaccination rates were found in Isparta (6.71%), Amasya (6.38%), Bolu (6.29%), Burdur (6.07%), Edirne (5.82%), Eskişehir (5.77%), Çanakkale (5.70%), Artvin (5.61%), Giresun (5.56%), Çorum (5.39%).
Ankara has a rate of 5.35% and is ranked 11th. İzmir is 30th with a rate of (4.62%). İstanbul, with a population of more than 15 million has a vaccination rate of 3.63%. Istanbul is ranked 55th on the list.
Total vaccination number
According to data shared by the Ministry, 2,599,607 people have been vaccinated in Turkey so far. In Hakkari there have been 2,382 vaccinations, 4,417 in Ağrı, 4,536 in Şırnak, 3,457 in Siirt, 2,138 in Şanlıurfa, 9,541 in Mardin, 4,482 in Muş, 4,683 in Bitlis, 4,292 in Bingöl, 17,606 in Van, and 30,305 in Diyarbakır.
