Only certain segments of the population are the current priorities for COVID-19 vaccinations but the vaccination of certain segments of society will not end the Covid-19 pandemic, said Yıldız Ok Orak, Co-chair of the Trade Union of Employees in Public Health and Social Services (SES) Diyarbakır Branch. She noted that 65% of the population should be vaccinated to end the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amed –Turkey’s Ministry of Health and Turkey Statistical Institute (TUIK) started to share how many people have been vaccinated to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on February 4. According to the Ministry data, the cities with the lowest vaccination rates are Hakkâri, Ağrı, Şırnak, Siirt, Urfa, Mardin, Muş, Bitlis, Bingöl, Van, and Diyarbakır in Turkey.

“The Covid-19 vaccination data is not shared with us”

The Trade Union of Employees in Public Health and Social Services (SES) Diyarbakır Branch Co-chair Yıldız Ok Orak said that the people distrust the Covid-19 vaccines and the very slow operation of their appointment systems affected these figures. Orak stated that although SES and TTB (Turkish Medical Association) demanded the data on vaccines from the Provincial Health Directorate, the data wasn’t shared with them: “Covid-19 vaccination was an issue we were interested in. As SES and TTB, we demanded the data on vaccines from the Provincial Health Directorate, but they did not share the data with us as usual. Therewith, we carried out our study. We contacted family physicians and the centers of Covid-19 vaccines. The people of the region distrust the system and for this reason, they don’t want to get Covid-19 vaccines. One of the reasons for this is the Ministry of Health because it hasn’t been transparent in giving information to people since the pandemic began. Another reason is the very slow operation of their appointment systems. Most people aged 65 and over are illiterate in the region. We got these figures by conducting our own studies but the scientific data on the low rate of vaccination should also be analyzed. But as I mentioned before, this data hasn’t been shared with us.”

“Everyone must get Covid-19 vaccine”

Stating that the vaccination of certain segments of society will not end the Covid-19 pandemic, Orak said that 65% of the population should be vaccinated to end the Covid-19 pandemic. “Reopening the schools without vaccinating all their staff is very risky. The same situation is valid for all sectors. Everyone must get the Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccination of certain segments of society will restart the pandemic. 65% of the population should be vaccinated to end the Covid-19 pandemic.”