ISTANBUL -- - Turkish police detained three nurses on Tuesday for allegedly providing fake COVID-19 vaccine cards to unvaccinated people, local media reported.
Acting on a tip-off, police teams apprehended the nurses who work at a private hospital in Bahcelievler district on the European side of Istanbul, said Turkey's English newspaper Daily Sabah.
It noted that the nurses had been providing fake vaccine cards to their "customers" in exchange for money at the hospital.
Turkish citizens can get their vaccination certificates only after the healthcare personnel who administer vaccines enter the latest vaccination information into a database of the country's Health Ministry.
Under a new regulation, which went into effect on Monday, Turks are required to present a negative COVID-19 test result or proof of vaccination for domestic travel and entry to crowded facilities such as cinemas, theaters and concert halls.
According to the ministry's data, 46.9 percent of Turkish population has been fully vaccinated so far as part of the ongoing inoculation campaign in the country of 83 million.