On Thursday, February 25^th, 2021, the Faculty of Public Health at Université la Sagesse hosted a webinar entitled “Covid-19 Vaccination: the road to Immunity” to answer the most urging questions about the COVID-19 vaccines and to shed the light on the importance of nurses, radiographers and physiotherapists work at the frontlines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Panelists

Dr. Diala El Khoury, Ph.D. Dean of the Faculty of Public Health at ULS, researcher in the health field and expert in molecular and cell biology.

Dr. Mirna Doumit, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN. President of the Order of Nurses in Lebanon, researcher, and fellow at the American Academy of Nursing.

Mr Paul Makdissi. President of the Lebanese syndicate of radiographers, instructor at the Faculty of Public Health at the Lebanese University.

Dr. Carlo Saad, DPT. International affairs, and public relations secretary, representing the Lebanese Order of Physiotherapists in Lebanon. Head of physiotherapy department at Clemenceau Medical Center Hospital (CMC).

Webinar Summary

ULS president Prof. Lara Karam Boustany was represented by the Vice President for Academic Affairs Prof. Georges Nehme who welcomed the audience and stressed on the reputation of the ULS and the Faculty of Public Health in presenting cutting-edge scientific research and raising awareness in the public health sector.

M. Elias Chahine, as the webinar moderator raised the first questions by asking: What is really an mRNA vaccine? What are health care professionals in the nursing, medical imagery and physiotherapy fields facing as front liners? How is the vaccination campaign going to help the healthcare system and the community?

Dr. Diala El Khoury started by declaring that the pandemic has caused till now over 2,486,679 million deaths in the world and that the vaccine is the most effective way to control the pandemic. Herd immunity (when people have immunity to a disease to stop it spreading) via vaccination causes less “collateral damage” than natural herd immunity. All COVID-19 vaccines who have won the race have passed thru all standard clinical trials and were held to the SAME safety standardsas all other vaccines. Dr. Khoury then explained how the COVID-19 vaccine development timeline was accelerated and showed effectiveness percentages of different vaccines. She also reviewed the different vaccine approaches and reassured everyone that the new mRNA vaccine will not enter their cell nucleus and will not change their DNA. She ended her intervention by stressing on the importance of reinforcing confidence in COVID-19 vaccination especially among health care workers and reminding the audience of the 3 health sciences departments in the Faculty of Public Health at ULS, represented today by their respective orders and syndicate.

Dr. Mirna Doumitshowcased the challenges the nursing sector is facing in Lebanon and the danger of the upcoming scarcity of human resources if the nurses keep on leaving the country due to the economic collapse. She talked about the crucial status of nurses on the frontline and their role in facing the pandemic. Dr. Doumit stressed on the importance of having the vaccination campaign at an accelerated pace to ensure the protection of healthcare workers and the community at a larger scale. She ended by saying that the nurses will always be ready to fulfill their mission.

Mr Paul Makdissi clarified to the audience how close medical imagery technicians work with the COVID-19 patients. He explained how medical imaging is boosting early disease detection and allowing the monitoring of its progression. He also showed very informative pictures of COVID-19 “ground-glass” lungs with opacities compared to normal lung CT scans with a black appearance. Because of this direct contact with patients, medical imaging technicians are encouraged to ger vaccinated as soon as possible.

Dr. Carlo Saad discussed the physiotherapists key role in respiratory rehabilitation and physical recovery of post-COVID-19 patients. He pointed how they must use their professional judgment to determine when, where, and how to provide care. The goal of the physiotherapy treatment being to enable the patient to further increase physical activity especially after a prolonged bed rest.

For more information about the mRNA vaccine technology and the different challenges faced by health workers, you may watch the full webinar on the following link https://youtu.be/-AUwpDzfMM0

The webinar ended with the following recommendations:

1. The importance of the vaccination campaign to be rapid. The participation of the private sector is thus needed to fulfill the vaccination mission in a timely manner.
2. All healthcare workers on the frontlines are to be protected and valued
3. Physical distancing and safety measures remain a must. Being vaccinated does not mean that the pandemic has ended.
4. A media campaign should be launched to raise awareness and encourage people to be inoculated and to explain that the vaccine is the only way to end the pandemic.
5. Continuous awareness campaigns are needed to deny rumors and fake news.

ULS PRESS NEWS

TAYYAR: لقاح كوفيد 19 الطريق إلى المناعة

https://www.tayyar.org/News/Lebanon/402675/

Al Mada: لقاح كوفيد 19 الطريق إلى المناعة

https://www.almada.org

lbcgroup.tv: ندوة عبر الإنترنت بعنوان  لقاح كوفيد 19: الطريق إلى المناعة ... ماذا خلص عنها من توصيات؟

AL MARKAZIAH: لقاح كوفيد 19 الطريق إلى المناعة

https://www.almarkazia.com/ar/news/show/296271

NNA الوكالة الوطنية للإعلام:
ندوة في جامعة الحكمة عن لقاح كوفيد 19 ودور الممرضين ومصوّري الأشعّة واختصاصيّي العلاج الفيزيائي

http://nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/532194/Covid19#.YD4cNQMjM40.whatsapp

ELNASHRA: كلية الصحة بالحكمة استضافت الندوة الإلكترونية "لقاح كوفيد 19 الطريق للمناعة"

https://www.elnashra.com/news/show

VDL News: لقاح كوفيد 19 الطريق إلى المناعة

https://www.vdlnews.com/news/86181

Watar Beirut: لقاح كوفيد 19 الطريق إلى المناعة

https://www.watarbeirut.com/2021/03/02