Globally, as of today, there have been 104,370,550 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2,271,180 deaths, reported to the World Health Organization. Many lives have been upended, disrupted and impacted in unprecedented ways as a result of the pandemic. Monumental efforts are undertaken to counteract the tightening grip of this novel coronavirus, an entity not even visible to the naked eye.

Vaccines to prevent the COVID-19 are perhaps the best hope for ending the pandemic. But as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) begins authorizing emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines, devotees likely have questions/concerns, or some confusion. With a lot of information floating on the internet and social media, it becomes difficult to know which sources of information they can trust.  

The ISKCON GBC Strategic Planning Team (SPT) brings a panel of experts together for an interactive interview and discussion to address devotees’  concerns or questions and help them make informed choices.    

The broad topics that will be covered in this series are:

• Is COVID-19 real? 
• How do the vaccines work?
• Are the vaccines safe and effective? 
• Are there sinister motives behind the vaccination? 
• Can the vaccine change our DNA and cause a genetic disorder? 
• Does the vaccine contain immoral components from fetuses/human cells? 
• Did the rapidly changing virus render the vaccines ineffective and obsolete?
• As devotees, are they to depend on medical science, or Krishna?

The medical professional devotee panelists Dr. Madhavananda Das and Dr. Shyama Gopi Dasi will be interviewed by Vraja Vihari Das.

Time:  February 12, 8:30 AM EST, 7 PM IST 

Location: live on GBC SPT Facebook/Youtube channels  (https://www.facebook.com/events/748411418980492/) 

About our Panelists 

Madhavananda Das

Dr. Ajay Sankhe has passed his M.D. in Pediatrics from Mumbai University in the year 1989.

For more than 25 years, he is in clinical practice and is renowned as a well known Pediatrician in the North region of Mumbai and Thane.

He is the Director of Bhaktivedanta Hospital and Research Institute which is a 200 bedded tertiary care centre at Mira road. He is also the Director of 6 more units of Bhaktivedanta Hospital located in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

Bhaktivedanta Group of hospital is known for its quality medical care with added spiritual component.

Under his leadership the hospital has collectively performed more than forty thousand free surgeries for poor patients.

The hospital has received a Worldwide Achievers Health care excellence summit award in 2015 for “Best multispeciality Hospital in Maharashtra for Innovation and Research” at the hands of Hon. Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan.

Dr. Ajay Sankhe has been recognized for his commitment to social upliftment and has received many awards, in particular he has received the Rashtriya Udyog Ratan award in 2013 given by National Organisation for Commerce and Industry.

Beyond all this, he is a sincere seeker on the path of spirituality.

The Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi government hospital in Bhayander (west) is operating a 20-bed ICU. Which is also a Taking care of 200 Covid patients. Dr Ajay Sankhe, led this task to set up it in record 15 days’ time. 

Shyama Gopi Devi Dasi

Dr. Shivangi Agarwal has a PhD degree in Biochemistry and is presently working as a Research Scientist at the Rush University Medical Center in the Department of Internal Medicine (Nephrology division) in Chicago USA. Her expertise is in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of infectious diseases. Being in the field for over 16 years, she has worked with deadly organisms that cause anthrax, pneumonia, cholera and many more. She has around 30 publications in highly reputed medical journals with over 600 citations. Currently she is actively involved in studying the effect of COVID-19 on kidney function.

She is associated with ISKCON for over a decade, a disciple of Radhanath Swami and her primary services involve book distribution and Western outreach.

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Relevant Links :

Link to the FB Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/748411418980492/ 

The links to the two vaccine articles composed by GBC SPT’s experienced team members.

https://gbcstrategicplanningteam.com/2020/12/3821/

https://gbcstrategicplanningteam.com/2021/02/addressing-the-concerns-about-vaccines-in-general/