Hundreds of Dawoodi Bohras from all over Europe signed in to take part in a webinar that addressed concerns regarding COVID-19 and it’s vaccination, dispelling myths and working towards 100% vaccination in all those who are eligible. The webinar also covered discussions on the impact on health (long COVID-19) and potential treatments and patients’ journey through the hospital and Intensive Care Unit. Informative and practical talks were delivered during the webinar by a panel of professionals including Anaesthetists, GPs, Specialists, A&E and ITU doctors. The webinar was organised by S.E.Z London, a volunteer community youth organisation together with Saifee Burhani Medical Association UK (SBMA UK), an association of Dawoodi Bohra medical professionals who advise the community on health-related issues. COVID-19 is highly contagious and there is no natural immunity. Vaccines have been created to cause an immune response that provides protection against the virus and members of SBMA UK agreed that vaccines are our best defence against infection. They train the body to fight off diseases, saving millions of lives each year. That’s why the COVID-19 vaccine is the safest way for us to get things back to normal. The successful UK roll-out has already shown that the vaccine steeply reduces case numbers and hospital admissions: a welcome sign that the vaccine makes a big difference.
The seven panellists included a range of medical professionals from the Dawoodi Bohra community: Dr Insiya Khambalia – Consultant Anaesthetist – Greater Manchester.Dr Khambalia has completed extensive training in Intensive Care and over the last year has treated and managed patients who have been critically unwell with COVID-19.
Dr Qusai Arsiwala – Emergency Medicine – London NHS England COVID-19 Advisory Committee Member. ‘Dr Q’ has worked on frontline services throughout this pandemic and worked with the government on shaping London’s response to the Pandemic.Dr Hussain Gandhi – GP & Clinical Director – Nottingham City East Primary Care. Dr Gandhi works at a large inner-city practice and creates online content to help patients and clinicians to understand healthcare better.Dr Yusuf Vapra – Respiratory and General Medicine Consultant – Clonmel, Ireland. Dr Vapra has been treating COVID-19 patients since the start of Pandemic.Dr Hussain S Cochin – Clinical Director of South Bradford Primary Care Network GP Trainer GP Partner at Parklands Medical PracticeDr Hozefa Ebrahim – Consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine – Birmingham. Dr Ebrahim has personally cared for more than 700 COVID-19 patients on life support machines in ICU over the last year.
Dr Moez Dungarwalla – Clinical Director for Cancer Consultant Haematologist Lead for Haematology Research and Development Milton Keynes University HospitalCurrently available COVID-19 vaccines in the UK are Pfizer-BioNTech (mRNA) and Oxford University-AstraZeneca (viral vector). Over 22.4 million doses have been given to date, with over 1.3 million people fully vaccinated (nearly 1.6% of the population). All organisers and panellists encourage everyone to get vaccinated. The NHS has a dedicated COVID-19 vaccine page on its website with information, FAQs and other useful resources, as well as a link to the vaccine booking service.
Dr Qusai Arsiwala – Emergency Medicine – London NHS England COVID-19 Advisory Committee Member. ‘Dr Q’ has worked on frontline services throughout this pandemic and worked with the government on shaping London’s response to the Pandemic.
Dr Hussain Gandhi – GP & Clinical Director – Nottingham City East Primary Care. Dr Gandhi works at a large inner-city practice and creates online content to help patients and clinicians to understand healthcare better.
Dr Yusuf Vapra – Respiratory and General Medicine Consultant – Clonmel, Ireland. Dr Vapra has been treating COVID-19 patients since the start of Pandemic.
Dr Hussain S Cochin – Clinical Director of South Bradford Primary Care Network GP Trainer GP Partner at Parklands Medical Practice
Dr Hozefa Ebrahim – Consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine – Birmingham. Dr Ebrahim has personally cared for more than 700 COVID-19 patients on life support machines in ICU over the last year.
Dr Moez Dungarwalla – Clinical Director for Cancer Consultant Haematologist Lead for Haematology Research and Development Milton Keynes University Hospital
Currently available COVID-19 vaccines in the UK are Pfizer-BioNTech (mRNA) and Oxford University-AstraZeneca (viral vector). Over 22.4 million doses have been given to date, with over 1.3 million people fully vaccinated (nearly 1.6% of the population).
All organisers and panellists encourage everyone to get vaccinated. The NHS has a dedicated COVID-19 vaccine page on its website with information, FAQs and other useful resources, as well as a link to the vaccine booking service.