Event poster:
Event description:
Since the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines on 21st February 2021, and the subsequent public announcements about immunisation by the Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, and the Director-General of Health, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, on 24th February, Phase 1 of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme kicked off.
Frenzied discussion and speculations about the COVID-19 vaccination have since ensued: whether one should fear the side effects, which vaccine is most efficacious, why it is taking so long to vaccinate the whole country etc. Often, nationalist sentiments override scientific considerations depending on the use of an anti-West or an anti-China lens. This is exacerbated by the global trend of vaccine nationalism as well as misinformation campaigns by anti-vaxxers leading to distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, the content of such discussions is frequently not informed by the science, rendering a vacuous and distorted bickering leading to nowhere.
Agora Society and the People's Health Forum are pleased to provide an opportunity to gain an in-depth scientific understanding of the first generation of vaccines in the upcoming online workshop on 13th March (Saturday), 2pm.
Speakers
Dr. Lim Chee Han, a scientifically trained immunologist, infection-biologist, and current health policy researcher, will walk you through the fundamental knowledge and rationale behind the vaccine design, in the simplest layperson language possible.
Dr. Jeyakumar Devaraj, co-convener of the People's Health Forum and current chairperson of Parti Sosialis Malaysia, will respond to the panelists, providing his expert perspective. Dr.Jeyakumar is a specialist in General Internal Medicine and a member of the Royal College of Physicians to the UK and Ireland.
The workshop will cover the following topics:
- Global trends related to the COVID-19 pandemic and progress in vaccination
- The battle of virus versus host immunity
- Vaccine types, design, and their pros and cons
- Vaccine development, clinical trials, and what 'efficacy' means
- Side effects of the vaccine
- Eligible groups for vaccination
- Vaccine protection: what should one expect
No prior knowledge of biology or medicine is required.
Come with your questions. Your queries will be answered. We hope to provide you with a knowledge enriching and empowering session.
Come join the workshop! Free Registration: http://bit.ly/vaccinescience
Date: 13 March 2021 (Saturday)
Time: 2 - 4pm (2 hours)
Language: English
Venue: Zoom meeting
Speaker: Dr. Lim Chee Han (PhD Infection Biology, MSc. Immunology)
Respondent: Dr. Jeyakumar Devaraj (Co-convener of People's Health Forum)
Host: Chan Yit Fei (Founding member of Agora Society)
Event 'Thank You' credit from Agora Society:
We would like to thank you for participating in the workshop last Saturday afternoon. The response was overwhelming and very encouraging, we are delighted that many actually showed strong commitment to learn more about the vaccine issue.
We would like to express our special thanks to the speakers Dr Lim Chee Han and Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj as well as the host/moderator Chan Yit Fei for their time preparing for the workshop. Also, not forgetting our back-end supporting team members, without them we would not have the event run as smoothly. We sincerely hope that you have enjoyed the session and gained meaningful knowledge and insights on COVID-19 vaccines.
For those who who missed out the session or just want to revisit, good news for you! We have uploaded the workshop session video on our Agora Society YouTube channel, you may check out the video here: https://youtu.be/cJEckoG6Wig
We also welcome any feedback for the organiser or/and our speakers.
Once again, we thank you and appreciate your valuable support. We hope to see you next time in future events organised by Agora Society and the People's Health Forum.
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