"In the name of humanity, the vaccine should have no intellectual property right; everyone should be able to produce it"

Thirteen months have passed since March 2020, when the first Covid-19 case was seen. During this time we have witnessed the different waves of the epidemic and its different effects. We have gained a rich experience in which society's reactions to it have differed just as much.

As time passes and case numbers rise, we are faced with a situation in which health becomes a routine of our lives and its importance diminishes. As of 8 April, record figures were reached in the announced Covid-19 case numbers and daily death toll. Yesterday, with 258 deaths against 55,941 cases, drew more attention simply because the figures hit a record.

Yet it is not possible to say that, because such a record figure was reached, a greater panic or a greater sensitivity has developed in people's behavior toward the epidemic. In contrast to the great fear and anxiety displayed in the early days at far lower case and death numbers, today these figures do not even cause serious concern in people.

On the contrary, in daily life society has all but bought into all the consequences of the epidemic. People are either in an "if we are going to die, let us die" mode, or, despite the daily-published infection and death figures that show a linear increase, they are beginning to adopt ever more an "nothing will happen to us" negligence.

Here, undoubtedly, the human behavior of flexing and adapting in the face of the gravity of the epidemic's consequences, getting used to it and taking it for granted, and then becoming wholly insensitive plays a very important role. The longer the epidemic's period of activity lasts, the more the likelihood always grows that people will display these attitudes. Moreover, whatever anyone says, Turkey's health system has the obvious and exceptional success of not being paralyzed despite all the rising numbers in the face of the cases, and even of delivering an extraordinarily high-quality performance.

Undoubtedly, in the rise of cases, the people's response to the policies pursued is as influential as the policies themselves. In the periods when a full lockdown was followed in Turkey, the number of cases was brought down to a certain level. But this can no longer be sustained, both in terms of society's "tolerance" and in terms of the "nature of the case."

Society cannot tolerate more lockdowns, because no economy and no social vitality can be sustained in the face of such a period. The lockdowns applied, despite the compensatory economic support provided by the government, increasingly strain the tradesmen more and more. The nature of the epidemic, in turn, being not limited to Turkey and the risk of contagion not diminishing at all, shows that it is a candidate to share in our lives, even to rule over our lives, for quite a long time.

Even so, that the policies pursued by the health ministry in this regard are still exemplary policies in the world is confirmed by the World Health Organization, which follows day by day the policies and data all over the world. The criticisms that the opposition, which from the very beginning never uttered the slightest sentence of appreciation even for the exceptional success Turkey displayed, directs today at these policies on the basis of the rise in case numbers merely reflect their incorrigible, unfair opportunism. After all, all of them benefit equally and enormously from these health policies, and even they no longer have the tolerance to apply the policies proposed in the face of this epidemic. They do not refrain from committing the greatest violations of the measures. The same getting-used-to and insensitivity has developed in everyone, because this epidemic catches all of us in our most human states.

Of course, one must not neglect to do the accounting of this, to make social impact analyses and to apply the controls that can be applied. But the whole

world continues to appreciate Turkey's exceptionally successful policies in this regard despite everything, and the very selfless work of all the soldiers of its own health army has a great share in this.

Health Minister Dr. Fahrettin Koca attended the DSÖ media briefing last week as a guest of the DSÖ director general. In this framework he is the only health minister invited to this briefing. Turkey's distinguished dimension in the fight against the epidemic and in health policies was influential in this. Moreover, Turkey had submitted to the DSÖ the idea of declaring 2021 the year of health workers all over the world and had made intense efforts for its acceptance. Thanks to this, 2021 was declared the year of health workers by the DSÖ.

Minister Koca, in the media briefing he attended, gave details about the vaccinations carried out. Turkey is still first among the countries that do not produce vaccines in administering the most vaccines to its citizens. From the critics, for example, we never hear anything at all about this figure.

Moreover, as Turkey, it has completed the vaccination of approximately 1 million 100 thousand health workers in a short time of 45 days.

Koca also explained that the first vaccine will be completed by the coming summer and that we have 18 vaccines on the list of vaccines registered by the DSÖ.

A very important point that Fahrettin Koca emphasized is that vaccines should be accessible to everyone, as our esteemed President also often states. Koca, recalling that Erdoğan had stated that nearly 100 countries worldwide have not yet been able to reach vaccines and that, after the domestic vaccine is produced, it will be made available to all humanity under the most favorable conditions, spoke of the necessity of paving the way for vaccines to be producible in every country around the world without intellectual property rights.

Unfortunately, the vaccines being developed are viewed only as a commercial commodity, and the developed countries have turned this business into an opportunity for profit.

Yet unless it is ended everywhere in the world, the epidemic will always continue to be a threat to everyone. If this epidemic is going to have a lesson for humanity, a beneficial effect, as it should by now, let it at least be this.