Turkey continues to take strides in its efforts to vaccinate the public as it pushes ahead in its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, prominent scientists have issued a warning to those who still have yet to get their booster shots, stressing that vaccination helps prevent severe illness regardless of the variant.

Professor Sema Turan, a member of the country's Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, said in a statement to Sabah daily that vaccination helps in every possible scenario.

"No matter which variant it is, fully vaccinated individuals experience mild symptoms if infected," Turan said.

"That’s why booster shots matter," she stressed.

Professor Ateş Kara, another member of the board, underlined that vaccines lose strength over time and booster shots are necessary for a stronger immune response.

"Booster shots are necessary for continued protection," he said.

For his part, infectious diseases expert associate professor Ümit Savaşçı also emphasized that vaccination boosts immunity in a major way.

"The death rate for unvaccinated individuals is 48 times higher compared to vaccinated people," he said, urging skeptics to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

The midterm holiday, which kicked off on Friday, may be a relief for millions of students but it also renewed fears about the course of the coronavirus pandemic.

Experts believe that higher mobility during the two-week holiday, when a large number of people are expected to visit their hometowns or vacation resorts, will carry the wave of infections to cities that currently have fewer cases.

By late February, the number of cases is predicted to peak in the country.

Turkey is already going through a new wave in the pandemic, as the number of daily cases has reached record levels over the past two weeks. The surge is largely blamed on omicron, a fast-spreading variant. Though it is less fatal than previous strains, this incarnation of the virus is still capable of affecting the population.

Currently, most cases are concentrated in the big cities of Turkey's west, such as Istanbul, which reported more than 1,200 cases per 100,000 people in the first week of January. With more people leaving for their hometowns in the inner parts of Anatolia from cities in the west for the holiday, omicron, more prevalent in the west, is expected to hit the Anatolian provinces. Currently, some cities in central Turkey are faring relatively better in terms of the number of cases, while the lowest number of cases are in eastern Turkey.

Projections show that Turkey will exceed 100,000 daily cases in February, from about 70,000. The silver lining is the fact a peak is usually followed by a plateau in numbers – but this subsequent period is not a given, as experts say it depends on the vaccination rate.

Booster shots are recommended by health authorities for full protection against omicron and other variants. Currently, more than 24.2 million people across the country have had their three doses of vaccines. The number is low compared to the overall number of doses administered since the start of the vaccination program in January 2021. Over 140 million doses of vaccines have been administered so far. Though the vaccination program was opened up for almost all eligible groups, anti-vaxxers and vaccine hesitancy prevails in the country, with the Health Ministry running awareness campaigns and deploying health care crews to convince more to take up their jabs.

Nevertheless, with the introduction of Turkovac, the country's domestically-produced inactive COVID-19 jab, vaccine hesitancy is expected to take a big hit.

Turkey jumped into action after the first coronavirus case was reported in March 2020 and launched studies to develop its first vaccine to combat the outbreak.

Among the vaccine studies supported by the Presidency of Turkish Health Institutes (TÜSEB) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK), the inactive vaccine developed by Erciyes University showed the fastest progress.

While the development process for Turkovac began in April last year, the preclinical stages, where animal trials were conducted, were successfully concluded in October 2020.

Phase 1 trials for the vaccine kicked off the following month and it was administered to 44 volunteers. Phase 2 was launched on Feb. 10, 2021, with 250 volunteers. With both phases showing positive results, authorities moved onto Phase 3 of the development process.

As part of the Phase 3 studies, the first dose of the vaccine was administered on June 22, 2021, in a program in which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan participated and announced the name of the vaccine – Turkovac.

Thousands of volunteers, who were unvaccinated and had not been infected with COVID-19 before, were given Turkovac as part of the Phase 3 studies.

In October this year, Turkovac was administered as a booster shot. Volunteers who previously received two doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine were given Turkovac or Sinovac, depending on their personal preference.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced in December that Turkovac received emergency use approval.

Speaking at the vaccine's production facility, Koca said public hospitals would start using the jab 10 days from then.

Turkovac's emergency authorization application was submitted to the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (TITCK) last month.

Since early in the vaccine’s development, Erdoğan has vowed to make it available globally, stating it will benefit all.

"Our COVID-19 vaccine, Turkovac, which has come to the production and usage stage by receiving the necessary approvals, is a symbol of our efforts to protect our nation against the pandemic in the most effective way," Erdoğan said Tuesday in a video message to the laboratory in southeastern Şanlıurfa province, where the vaccine research and production is being carried out.

Experts said the results from the trials are promising and that the vaccine, in the form of a booster shot at least, helps increase antibodies.