Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Wednesday said vaccine is the only way to stop the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Vaccinations would bring an end to this ongoing public health crisis,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
“In order to get back to normal, we need enough people to get vaccinated. The sooner we get more people vaccinated, the sooner we start reliving our lives.”
“If people want business as usual, their kids back in school and playing sport, they should roll up their sleeves and get Covid-19 vaccine,” DAK President said. “Covid-19 vaccine is the biggest gift science has provided to humankind,” he said.
“The discovery of a “safe and effective” vaccine in less than a year is an extraordinary achievement in the history of science.” Dr. Nisar said vaccines are one of the great modern triumphs of public health and are the best tools to prevent disease and death. We have seen how vaccines have eradicated diseases like smallpox and polio.
He said Covid-19 has infected millions and claimed so many lives, and is still raging. “We have the vaccine now. We can breathe a collective sigh of relief,” Dr. Nisar said.
“Vaccine would protect you from getting Covid-19 infection and prevent you from getting seriously ill even if you do get the virus. Getting vaccinated will also protect people around you, particularly people at increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19.”
“We need to build trust in people about the safety, effectiveness and importance of the vaccine,” he said. “Thousands of healthcare workers in Kashmir have received the shot and no major adverse effect has been reported.”
“Authorities need to crack down on those who spread rumors and misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine. People need to be booked for promoting anti-vaccination propaganda and there is an urgent need to penalize social networking sites for uploading false information regarding the vaccine. Misinformation has the potential to create public skepticism over Covid-19 vaccine which could undermine our fight against the coronavirus pandemic,” said Dr Nisar—(KNO)