Can we get to know you briefly?
My name is Mehmet Fidan. After teaching for about 7 years in Istanbul, I came to America. I've been living here in the states of New York and New Jersey for a long time. I first lived in New York. About 13-14 years. I've been living in New Jersey for about 5-6 years.
When did you come to America?
About a month and a half before the 2001 Twin Towers attack, I came to America for language training. Then I did my Master's here. After completing most of my doctorate, I had to leave my academic education due to private business. I am currently dealing with trading.
What would you say about the US healthcare system in general?
Now, as you know, America is a capitalist state. It is already the capital of capitalism. Therefore, the social state understanding that exists in Canada and European countries does not exist here. Normally, there is an application similar to the Green Card in Turkey in the USA. There are Madicaid and Madicare systems, which are given in limited numbers for those whose financial situation is very bad. Apart from that, the health system here revolves entirely around private insurance. As such, it is more difficult for low-income people to benefit from private insurance. Nearly 40 million people don't even have a Social Security number. This means that they do not benefit from either government or private health insurance in any way. In this respect, the most underdeveloped health system among developed countries is in the United States. In other words, in terms of the welfare state, we can say that America is the most backward system.
How did the system work during the pandemic process?
In the early stages of the pandemic process, both the inadequacy and incompetence of the Trump administration and the deficiencies in the health system caused especially middle and low-income people to face great difficulties. However, the state of emergency declared due to this pandemic has helped to fill some of the existing shortcomings. These are that Covid tests are free, two of the first vaccines developed against Covid (Moderna, Johnsan & johnsan) are based in America, and the public is vaccinated free of charge. In addition, we can say that the transition of democrats to the administration accelerated the fight against covid. In fact, when Baiden came to power, the biggest promise was to make 100 million doses of vaccine in 100 days. He fulfilled this promise in 75-80 days.
What was the American strategy in tackling the pandemic?
As you know, the United States of America is a federal system consisting of 50 states. While the American Presidents are the head of the executive, they are kind of responsible for ensuring coordination between the states. But unfortunately, the strategies of Trump, who had no political management skills and experience and known as the most incompetent president in American history, worsened the situation. For example, when the need for plastic gloves and masks was at an extreme, the Trump administration threw the ball to the state governors and put the responsibility on them, while the government was expected to find a remedy for this. It made it easier for Republican state governors to get supplies from outside than Democratic governors. To tell the truth, in an epidemic where thousands of people died a day, he made politics over people's funerals. While making this assessment, I would like to state that the number of Americans who died from COVID has exceeded approximately 600 thousand.
What was the attitude towards immigrants, homeless people and workers in your state?
In the first period of the epidemic, there was a great uncertainty and fear. No one knew what to do and how long this situation would last. I was always following the news. In the early periods, the highest number of deaths were in New York and New Jersey. It was a doomsday situation, so to speak. As the situation began to become clear over time, it was understood that the majority of positive cases were immigrants, mainly African-Americans and Hispanics, who were in very poor socioeconomic conditions. Since this was the first time such a situation was encountered, neither the federal government nor the state government had a clear policy regarding what was said.
Was there any support for those who could not work or go to work due to unemployment?
Yes, support provided. First of all, through Small Business Administration, which we call SBA, similar to SMEs in Turkey, 30-year low-interest loans were given to business owners. Financial assistance was provided through the Pay Check Protection Program as an aid for businesses to pay workers' salaries. As additional assistance to those receiving unemployment benefits, the government initially began providing $600 per week. This aid continued for a period of time at $300 a week. In some states, especially New York and New Jersey, where Democrat governors and administrators are present, economic aid has begun to be given to illegal immigrants who do not have any official residence permit.
Can we get to know you briefly?
Hello there. I am Neset Caglar, I was born in 1992. I am originally from Muş. I was born and raised in Izmir. I am a graduate of Ankara University Faculty of Law. I currently live in the state of New York in the USA.
When did you come to America?
I first came to America on January 8, 2006. I came with a greencard. After the greencard is issued and approved, there is a phase like this. They give you a visa for the first 6 months. Within the framework of that visa, you have to enter and exit within the first 6 months so that they will give you a green card. I came on that occasion in 2016, in September. Because after the first 6 months, you have to enter every year so that your greencart is not cancelled. Then I came permanently on May 5, 2017.
How did you get through the pandemic process?
Like everyone else, I could not understand the pandemic process at first. I thought it would be short. Like 1-2 weeks. I was comfortable. After that I had difficulties. Because it was an unknown disease and epidemic. You have no knowledge. You don't know how to take action. Honestly, I'm not someone who pays much attention to my health. I don't even have health insurance in America right now.
Are you vaccinated? What were the options available to you in the vaccine?
Here I am dealing with uber, transportation, that is, the transportation business. Taxiing is a kind of thing in Turkey. We have been given priority in vaccination. So it was said that you can immediately. I've even been inside a huge stadium. The vaccination center was established inside the stadium. Options available to me Want to be Pfizer-BioNTech? Do you want to be moderna? At that time, there were two types of vaccines. Johnson & Johnson did not exist. Sinovac is not here anyway. What did they say you want to be? I chose Pfizer.
What stage is America at the moment in vaccination?
As of last week, vaccination has passed 73 percent in America. I can say he's on the street right now. I mean, it's already been like this for 1-2 months. Now they are trying to force you to do it. I think America has a 100% vaccination capacity. Because, thanks to their organization, they can reach 100% capacity in 2 days very easily, but some of the people are afraid of the vaccine. I don't think they say that. Some people don't really believe this. Some people believe it will be chipped. As I said, the important thing for me is not whether the chip is installed or not. We already use the phone. I think they have already put the chip on us in daily life. So people value themselves a lot. The chip will be inserted and so on. However, smartphones and devices are already doing this. So I got vaccinated right away. So as soon as I got the appointment, I had the vaccine in March.
Assist. Prof. Emrah Tüncer
