SYNOPSIS

We are facing challenging time with the COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with daily cases exceeding 4,000 and active cases over 37,000 as well as 1,700 deaths in May, our country is facing a third Covid-19 wave. The government has imposed another nationwide Movement Control Order MCO 3.0 for 4 weeks to control the situation.

Beside the SOP to wear mask, social distancing, washing of hands and stay at home, the government has procured 5 vaccines to vaccinate about 80% of the adult population to achieve herb immunity to reduce the spread of the virus.

Phase 1 of the Vaccination programme for the front liners has been completed and the next phase for senior citizen vaccination has started. However, there are still many citizens who are concerned on the safety of the vaccines. Many have doubts on the vaccines. Questions like: What are the 5 vaccines available? What do we know about the vaccines? Are they safe? What are the risks? What is efficacy? Some vaccine have higher efficacy percentage than others- why? Which vaccine should I take? What are the side effects? What happen to those who have recovered from the Covid-19 illness? Will I be infected again after the vaccination?

This webinar talk on Covid-19 Vaccination- Benefits and Concerns will address some of these issues.The talk will be given by two medical doctors from UPM Hospital and UM Medical Centre, who are actively involved in caring for the Covid-19 patients, especially for older persons with Covid-19 and also post Covid-19 follow-up.

This talk is for all IEM and family members as well as public to understand the different types of vaccines, the benefits and concerns. There will be a Q & A session after the talk and you will have the opportunity to ask any questions and discuss the effectiveness and safety of Covid-19 vaccines.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Dr. Hakimah Mohammad Sallehuddin is Geriatrician from University Putra Malaysia (UPM). She graduated in 2007 with Medical Bachelor and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan and later awarded a Membership of Royal Colleges of Physicians (MRCP), United Kingdom to practice as an Internal Medicine Specialist in 2014. She completed her subspecialty training in Geriatric Medicine with clinical experiences both in Malaysia and the United Kingdom. She is a doctoral fellow and researcher in Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing (MyAgeingTM) and a council member of Fragility Fracture Network Malaysia. She pioneers the Geriatric Service in University Putra Malaysia Teaching Hospital (HPUPM) and is actively involved in developing the hospital’s Fall Intervention Team.

Her previous projects were the development of a Malaysian Undergraduate Geriatric Medicine Curriculum and a nation-wide survey on teaching provision of geriatric medicine in medical schools across the country. She was one of the task force members in developing the “Interim Recommendations for the COVID-19 Pandemic for Private, Public and NGO Residential Aged Care Facilities” in Malaysia. She is the co-author for the Malaysian Education Certificate (SPM) Vocational Subject’s textbook “Gerontologi dan Geriatrik Asas: Tingkatan 4 & 5” and a book on dementia care “Dementia: A Caregiver’s Guide”. She has on-going research on elderly malnutrition, stroke, frailty, medical education and fragility fractures.

Dr. Kejal Hasmukharay is a geriatric fellow at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). She graduated from the prestigious Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya and was selected for the Bright Sparks scholarship to pursue Internal Medicine in her alma mater. She then sub-specialised in Geriatric Medicine. Her special interests include in understanding immuno-senescence, infections in older persons as well as identifying pre-frail states in older persons. She is a great advocate of preventive medicines which includes vaccines as well as to empower older persons to embrace active and healthy ageing.

With regards to experience with COVID, she has been involved in the acute care of older persons with COVID as well as the rehabilitation post COVID and their long-term follow-ups in the multi-disciplinary clinics in UMMC. She has also been awarded the CHIMERA fellowship to be trained in implementational science. She is a member of the Malaysian Society of Geriatric Medicine. She was also one other writer/contributor for the development of the “Interim Recommendations for the COVID-19 Pandemic for Private, Public and NGO Residential Aged Care Facilities” in Malaysia. Being passionate about COVID in the vulnerable group, she is also involved in the development of the “COVID-19 infection prevention and control training for the aged care sector in Malaysia”, an online programme in collaboration with Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing(UPM) and the World Health Organization(WHO).

She is also involved in ongoing clinical researches in ageing, sarcopenia and infections in older persons and is also actively involved in the teaching of medical and post graduate students.