A nurse prepares a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Ankara, Turkey, on May 15, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

Turkey has vaccinated 14.5 percent of its population against COVID-19 with two doses, the health ministry's data revealed on Tuesday.

Over 12 million Turkish citizens have received both doses, and 16 million people have got their first jabs since the nationwide vaccination program started in mid-January, the data showed.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca urged citizens on Twitter to get their jabs. Earlier, he said everyone over the age of 20 would be vaccinated in June.

With a population of 83 million, Turkey launched the program with China's Sinovac vaccine and recently included the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The daily count of COVID-19 cases has been steadily dropping after the government launched a full lockdown for nearly 20 days until May 17 to curb the spread of the virus.

The positivity rate in daily tests has dropped to 4 percent, the lowest figure in six months, according to media reports.

Turkey recorded 7,523 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total infections to 5,194,010, and the death toll rose by 178 to 46,446, according to the health ministry.