The rise in the death toll came as a 21-year-old male and an 11-year-old female both succumbed to the virus on Friday morning, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım spoke to journalists yesterday about swine flu, reminding citizens to take precautions to stem the spread of the flu. Asked by a journalist whether he planned to receive immunization against the swine flu, Yıldırım said that whether or not to get the swine flu shot was an individual decision, in comments reminiscent of controversy earlier this week when Health Minister Recep Akdağ, himself the first government official to receive the swine flu vaccine in Turkey, said the prime minister and president were to receive the shot as well -- which the latter two have denied.“The shots are a decision that each individual will make for themselves. There’s no mandatory immunization here, the most that could happen would be forced quarantine [with regard to swine flu]. And such a situation is not at hand. Without a doubt there is benefit to be had in immunizations for those who the Health Ministry has determined to be part of a risk group. On this topic, I don’t think that coercion will do any good,” Yıldırım said.
In some areas in Turkey stocks of seasonal flu vaccines have already been exhausted at pharmacies, even though they do not provide protection against the H1N1 strain. In Alanya, Turkey’s “tourism capital,” there has been particular public panic about swine flu, leading to the depletion of all seasonal flu vaccine stores. Pharmacists Chamber Alanya representative Serdar Noyan said the lack of swine flu vaccine sales in the public market has led to a surge in demand for seasonal flu shots. Scores of people come to pharmacies in Alanya each day seeking flu shots, but it is not expected that any more will be brought to the district until December. Seasonal flu shots should be administered in September and October and are of less use in November, but normally the supply does not run out so early, he said.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry approved a request from the Turkish Pharmacists Union (TEB) to include private pharmacists in the high-risk group with regards to swine flu along with other healthcare professionals. Health Ministry Basic Health Services General Manager Seraceddin Çom sent out a memorandum to all of Turkey’s provincial health administrations asking them to provide H1N1 vaccinations to private pharmacists and those employed at pharmacies upon request. According to TEB Secretary-General Özgür Özel, who released a statement following the Health Ministry’s decision, 100,000 people are employed at 24,000 pharmacies across Turkey.
