Turkish president Ragab Tayyeb Erdogan repeated a claim that many European countries charged for the coronavirus vaccine. The remarks came as he praised Turkey’s vaccination campaign.
German media has condemned Erogan's remarks claiming citizens of the central European country had to pay for COVID-19 vaccines. Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau and Der Westen newspapers have accused the Turkish leader of spreading misinformation, citing the free jab in the country.
Germany, which provides the vaccine free of charge, had given at least one shot to 55.1 percent of its population as of Wednesday, while 37.3 percent in the country were fully vaccinated,
In Turkey, only 18 percent of the population have received full doses of either the SinoVac/CoronaVac or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, according to Health Ministry figures.
Frankfurter Rundschau said Erdogan’s remarks had created confusion in Berlin while prompting backlash on German social media while Der Westen said Erdogan had given false information to the Turkish nation.
On the other hand, Turkey’s opposition lawmakers and social media users are blasting the president after he announced that he received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at a time when 50 million people in the country are waiting to receive their first jab.
Main opposition Republican People’s Party lawmaker Ozgur Ozel asked where Erdogan had found the right to receive extra doses of the jab, when even the country’s healthcare workers were unable to do so.
More than 16.6 million people have received their first doses, while over 12.5 million have been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, but the country is battling an acute shortage of vaccines, according to Turkish media reports.
No comments:
Post a Comment