The Turkish Health Ministry has been recommending vaccinations for everyone eligible but has not made the treatment mandatory. It is yet enforcing a mandate for two PCR tests on any school staff who remain unvaccinated.
Some schools set up vaccination points in schools' courtyards to encourage parents to receive shots, with some local governments promoting the practice with the punchline "Kids to class, parents to get vaccines!"
The government has deemed all children over 12 years of age to receive vaccinations, but younger kids remain outside the scope of national vaccinations.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the government was determined to keep in-person classes going, and claimed that Turkey had been able to preserve educational activities throughout the pandemic, although many students struggled with the online educational portal.