Dr. Krishna Reddy Nallamalla, President of the InOrder Institute and the Country Director of ACCESS Health India was among an elite panel of experts at a webinar that addressed thousands of students and households across Telangana on the importance of Covid-19 vaccination and busted several myths around it. The public webinar was conducted by the Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK) of the Government of Telangana, along with the Confederation of Indian Industries.
TASK is a non-profit organization created under the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications for bringing synergy among government institutions, industry, and academia towards offering quality human resources and services to the industry. Apart from Dr Reddy, other panellists included Dr. Rakesh K Mishra, Advisor and Former Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Dr. GVJA Harshavardhan, Director of Viral Vaccines and International Affairs, Bharat Biotech International Ltd and Dr SuneethaNarredy, Head of Infectious Diseases Department at the Apollo Hospitals. The session was moderated by Mr. Shrikant Sinha, CEO of TASK and the keynote address was given by Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary of the Department of ITE&C.
Some of the common questions addressed by the panel were around the need to get vaccinated, how Covid vaccines work, why Covid vaccines are a sustainable way of curbing the pandemic, who should get vaccinated, how much protection do vaccines guarantee, the best way to take the vaccine, the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19 hitting India and how governments and the public can be prepared for it. Among other points made byDr. Reddy, he highlighted the need for people across age groups to get vaccinated as soon as it is possible to do so. “Unless enough people are vaccinated and not getting infected and in turn not spreading infection to others, the population continues to be a risk of subsequent waves,” Dr Reddy said.
The session was telecast live on TASK’s social media pages and on the TSAT Nipuna TV channel. The online sessions were attended by over a thousand people and through the TSAT channel, close to 5 lakh households were reached. Watch the entire webinar here.