In a proud moment for the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Dr. Sakir Ahmed, a young clinician and scientist from the institute, was invited by the National TV News Channel ‘MirrorNow’ for a debate discussion. Dr. Ahmed is the Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, KIMS and has already published six papers related to the COVID-19 disease.
On 28th September, he participated in the 8PM prime time Urban debate on the topic “How will India tackle the challenge of vaccinating a billion people?”. Other panelists included stalwarts like Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan, Affiliate Professor of Global Health at Washington University and Dr Able Lawrence, Professor of Clinical Immunology from SGPGIMS, Lucknow.
The panelists discussed universal availability of a vaccine against COVID-19. Dr. Ahmed brought out that beyond matters of finance and logistics, there are also issues related to ethics and social factors. All the panelists agreed that the earliest time frame for a viable vaccine to reach the public will be at least 6 months, and still the way was fraught with numerous challenges. All agreed that the initial vaccine may not be the panacea people are hoping for, and the way of life including masks, social distancing and hand hygiene should go on unabated even after introduction of the vaccine.
Link to recorded program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSo07HVksUE