‘22 million people need to have flu vaccine in Turkey’

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Prof. Selim Badur has spoken about the influenza vaccination in his "Corona Days" (Korona Günleri) program on Open Radio (Açık Radyo).

Amid confusion and debates as to whether there are enough flu vaccines in Turkey amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and based on what criteria the Ministry of Health determines the "first-priority risk groups" for flu, Prof. Badur has noted that while 22 million people in total need to be vaccinated against influenza, Turkey's annual number of flu vaccines has never exceeded an 3 million since 2006.

Underlining that flu vaccine does not protect against COVID-19, Badur has briefly shared the following information:

"Does the number of flu cases increase during the pandemic? There are different findings from different countries. But the ones that are important for us are the countries in the southern hemisphere such Australia and New Zealand, which have already gone through the flu season.

"When we look at the studies conducted in these countries, we see that the number of flu cases dropped due to measures such as physical distance and masks. While 298 thousand flu cases were reported in Australia last year, this number has dropped to 21 thousand in 2020.

"But, do we see influenza and COVID-19 cases together? In 11.9 percent of 544 cases in China, patients are infected by both diseases. In New York, this figure is 2.1 percent. It increases to 20 percent in California. The prevalence changes from place to place.

'It should have been ordered in March'

"During the H1-N1 outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) changed the order of priority groups in 2008-2010. The organization put pregnant women on top of the list. Then, it changed this in September, bringing the elderly and chronically ill to the fore.

"What about us? It needs to be noted that the flu vaccine is produced in a different way from the others. A limited number of flu vaccines are produced. Producers do not produce vaccines, thinking, 'Let's sell more.' Producing flu vaccines is more difficult than producing other vaccines.

"In March, countries are asked how many flu vaccines they are going to buy and flu vaccines are produced accordingly. This year, 523 million doses of flu vaccines have been distributed, 194 million have been bought by the United States and Turkey has bought 1.3 million doses.

"Who needs to be vaccinated in Turkey? In a study that we did as the Flu Platform Team in 2013, we looked at the number of those in Turkey said to be in the risk group by WHO. 7 years ago, Turkey's population of the ones aged over 65 was 5 million, it has now risen to 7 million people.

'They will collect vaccines from the market'

"There are 33 million 825 thousand citizens who have chronic diseases such as heart, kidney and lung disorders. The number of those who are both aged over 65 and chronically ill is 22 million. In other words, 22 million people need to be vaccinated. But, since 2006, the annual number of flu vaccines has never exceeded 3 million.

"This year, there has been an awareness about the vaccination of these people. But 1.3 doses have been procured. The Ministry of Health has said that 2.5 million new doses will be bought. It says that it will buy it from the Netherlands. But the Netherlands does not produce flu vaccines.

"It will reportedly be collected from the market and sold to Turkey. How true will that come? Just as they have made several mistakes during the pandemic, they have also set an dishonorable picture about the flu vaccine. Failing to order in March and saying 'I will collect it from the market when it is upon us' is not right." (RT/SD)