Sevim Sütcü

 

ANKARA - One of the members of TTB’s Pandemic Working Group, Prof. Dr. Esin Davutoğlu Şenol noted that the epidemic will spread further in the next three months and drew attention to the inadequacy in vaccination with the words ‘’social murder’’ is being committed.

 

It has been 18 months since the official announcement of the coronavirus epidemic in Turkey. In this process, while thousands of citizens lost their lives, the government’s epidemic policies and the practices implemented in this context were frequently the subject of discussion. According to the data announced by the Ministry of Health, while the number of daily cases is between 25.000-30.000 on average, more than 200 citizens die every day. While the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) states that the proportion of the population that has completed the vaccination schedule in Delta variant conditions should be at least 85 percent, serious inequalities between regions and provinces cause an increase in the number of deaths.

 

Working as the Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology in Medical Faculty of Gazi University and a member of the Pandemic Working Group of the TTB, Prof. Dr. Esin Davutoğlu Şenol made evaluations about the latest situation in the corona pandemic.

 

‘Most of the dead are unvaccinated’

 

Stating that 18 months have passed since the start of the pandemic and that safe control has not been achieved since the pandemic process, Esin noted that the epidemic escalated with the opening of schools. Esin said: ‘’Since winter is ahead of us and the characteristics of the delta are known, we think the delta to increase to a higher stage because it can partially escape immunity. Most of the people who died in the last period are unvaccinated and young. This is a very dramatic situation indeed. Because they die of a preventable disease. Since there is no other measure apart from the vaccine, almost every closed place we enter is risky.’’

 

‘There are religious and socio-political reasons of the anti-vaccination’

 

Esin stated that there is an immune group of around 50 percent. Emphasizing that details are very important on vaccination, Esin noted that the inequality in vaccination between regions is proportional to the ‘’anti-vaccination’’. Esin continued her words as follows: ‘’Actually, the vaccination was completely stuck. Because there are social dynamics that we call ‘population dynamics’. We really need data here. As for the attitude towards the vaccine, the social reactions are different. As of June, the vaccines have been delivered to all parts of Turkey, even if it’s late. In other words, as of June, Turkey has no problem of vaccine supply and access to vaccines. But regionally, people have different reactions. For example; There is a lot of anti-vaxxer in the Southeast. I attribute this to the nonestablishment of properly bonds with the epidemic management and the lack of open sharing of data or the nonapparent of the shared data. In general, I attribute it to the fact that adults have no good relation with the vaccine, they are reactive to the vaccine, they do not know that they die from a preventable disease, and of course, some religious and socio-political reasons.’’

 

Turkey is in the 3rd place in the world in case ranking

 

Stating that Turkey is in the 3rd place in the world in cases, 6th in the death order and 23rd in the vaccine order, Esin said: ‘’These numbers are already enough to explain the situation. The Ministry of Health deprives science, academia, non-governmental organizations, TBB and all non-governmental organizations that can have a word in this issue in the epidemic management. On the other hand, there was no response to our request for an appointment from the Ministry of Health.’’

 

‘Social murder’

 

Noting that the next three months will be difficult and the situation they fear most is the blockage of the health system, Esin said: ‘’The health system was already blocked. There is a concern that this blockage will become visible for the next three months as it spills onto the street. Since June, the process has been tried to be carried out with a strategy based only on vaccination. But it failed even more than that. Because after this treatment was provided in June, it was necessary to vaccinate at much higher levels in the first three months. The point that Turkey has reached despite the vaccination and healthcare workers’ efforts shows its failure in vaccination. Therefore, epidemic management is completely failing. We call this ‘social murder’. Because unfortunately, it results with human deaths.’’