ANN in partnership with The Statesman and DataLeads has jointly organised an online meet programme on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, for the discussion on the topic “India’s Vaccine and Vaccinations: Mission Possible”. The webinar’s objective is to acknowledge the lessons Asian and African countries can draw from India which has vaccinated over 20 million of its citizens. 

India is the seventh-largest country by area and the most populous democracy in the world. It has been coming ahead in the race of the Covid 19 vaccination drives among many other developing countries in the world.  The country has given at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot to more than half of the eligible population. It’s an applauding achievement for the country as they have initially struggled to give out enough doses for its 1.4 billion people.

The aim to host the webinar is to unfold the faced challenges and amplify the progress of Covid 19 vaccination drives in the world’s second most populated country-India.

The esteemed guests who would be gracing the occasion include, Vikas Sheel, an IAS officer, currently serving as Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, Dr Roderico H Ofrin from WHO India and Syed Nazakat, an award-winning Indian journalist, media entrepreneur and founder of DataLEADS, Pratyaya Amrit, additional Chief Secretary Health Department Government of Bihar.

Vikas Sheel is a key member of the National Team handling COVID Emergency Response in India looking after the design, development and implementation of Co-WIN, the digital COVID vaccination platform of India.

An Electrical Engineer by qualification, Sheel has also done an Executive Masters in Public Policy from Syracuse University, New York. He has wide-ranging experience in public policy relating to social sectors such as food security, public distribution, school education, public health & family welfare, agriculture and allied activities.

Born in 1968 in the Philippines, Dr Ofrin holds a Doctor of Medicine from the University of the Philippines; and a Master’s in Public Health from Hebrew University Hadassah, Israel. He joined WHO India as its representative in July 2020. He comes with a rich experience of over two decades in public health, mostly in WHO’s South-East Asia Region. He was the Regional Emergencies Director for WHO South-East Asia Region providing strategic technical guidance and operational leadership to the ongoing response to the global COVID-19 pandemic across the region.

A major part of Dr Ofrin’s career has been in the public health emergencies programme. He was involved in the response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami, a mega-disaster that severely impacted multiple countries of WHO South-East Asia countries. He went on to lead WHO’s response on the ground during major events such as cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, the 2015 massive earthquake in Nepal, the ebola outbreak in Liberia, and most recently the Rohingya crisis.

Dr Ofrin has contributed to several innovative measures for strengthening emergency preparedness and response in the Region, that were later replicated globally. The South-East Asia Regional Benchmarks for emergency preparedness and response and the South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF), are among the notable ones.

Syed Nazakat is an award-winning Indian journalist, media entrepreneur, founder of DataLEADS. He leads DataLEADS in New Delhi, as well as oversees its outreach across Asia with different partners, including with Google News Initiative. He has worked in senior positions at different media organisations and his work has earned him global recognition and awards.

Nazakat is passionate about open data, governance, public health and the intersection of technology and media, and is a frequent speaker on these issues across conferences and media outlets globally. He holds a B.Sc degree from India and a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.

Pratyaya Amrit is an Indian senior Indian Administrative Service officer in the Indian state of Bihar. He is renowned for managing out electrification work of villages, streamlining the functioning of the electricity department and infrastructure such as roads and bridges in Bihar.

India has remained one of the countries worst hit by Covid-19. But through its massive vaccination drive, India has brought the Covid-19 pandemic under relative control and the economy is walking towards the path of recovery. A combination of locally manufactured vaccines and a very well-organized nationwide vaccination drive has held off serious waves of the virus variants so far.  

Experts from India will shed light on the progress and challenges of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in India for audiences in Asia and around the world. 

Time: Tuesday, October 5, 2021: 1330 New Delhi, 1500 Bangkok, 1000 Cape Town, 0900 London (max 1.30 hours) 

hosted by The Statesman, Asia News Network, and DataLeads Zoom Link:  

https://dataleads-co-in.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NXCNAScQTiCaQnsHU0QAuQ