Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Van Mahotsav: India is not new to climate concerns

 


Photo by: https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/coconut-trees-reflection-at-backwaters-of-kerala-india-sheela-ajith.jpg

There may be many big wigs from 200 or more countries talking about climate and greening of our plant now, but it has been a perrenial theme in India from the day our nation was born. The British devastated our country taking away everything on the ground and the ground beneath and laid the country bare and barren. Our national leaders at that time realized the sad look of the barren land and conceived the idea of greening the country, in fits and starts.

This is what our national leader Nehru spoke some 60 years ago, "...It was a matter of surprise to him that so far no interest had been taken in tree plantation. Large tracts of the country had become deserts owing to the negligence of the people who cut trees without realizing their great value.... There should be a law that no one should cut a tree unless he had first planted a new one in its place."[wikipedia]. Nehru, Lady Mountabatten planted trees in Delhi.

The Gujarathi activist K. M. Munshi who held many positions including the ministry of agriculture and food took it to the next step and made it a traiditon to plant trees in July and renamed it the 'Van Mahotsav'. That was in 1950s. "Van Mahotsav" in Sanskrit, roughly translates to Forest Festival or Celebration of the Forest.

https://science.thewire.in/environment/van-mahotsav-green-india-mission-climate-change/

https://traveltriangle.com/blog/rain-forests-in-india/

Watch the video:

https://youtu.be/vnELd0Y7R1g

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Presenting you the top dog Wasabi

 The top dog who beat a few hundred others at the American Kennel Club in NY.


I would have named it 'cinnamon' and not wasabi for such a sweet dog.

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Telemedicine consulting in Hawaii

  I had my very first telemedicine experience with my doctor. I had badly sprained my knee which already had some problems. I was asked to consult a doctor by the local hospital Straub Medical Center in Honolulu. The hospital was cautious due to corona virus concerns. More than 10 days ago I had my first Moderna vaccine but still it is important to take precautions against this Wuhan virus.


The hospital uses the doxy.me telemedicine provider and you may get the expenses reimbursed. . I got a link in my email. I clicked the link to get to the online site where we could talk to each other. It was clean and easy.



One thing that needs improvement: 

The link to connect to the doctor could have given to me earlier. As I was concerned, and the promised link did not come till the last minute or so of the appointment, I was getting concerned. It could have been avoided.

Otherwise, everything was fine and I had a good time with the doctor. To minimize the time and get maximum interaction, I had prepared a script leading up to the point when I noticed I needed to consult. I did not want to waste doctor's time.

The downside of telemedicine in the case of a orthopedics at least, the patient's concerns remains. A face-to-face interaction a with doctor is most appropriate as a patient's version of his problem may not be acccurate.

Hawaii seems to be in the list where reimbursement is made for services provided. More details go here: https://doxy.me/telemedicine-reimbursement


Thursday, February 18, 2021

One man's experience after the first dose of Moderna vaccine

  On Feb 3, 2021 the first shot of COVID_19 vaccine was given. The details are as follows:


MODERNA Covid-19, mRNA vaccine (PF) 0.5 mL IM

Feb 3 - Feb 6: There was only slight heaviness in the right arm for the next three days.
Feb 6 - Feb 13: There did not appear to be any reaction. Everything normal
Feb 14 - Feb 15: Slight itchy feeling at vaccinated site
Feb 16: Itchy feeling increased, redness in the vaccinated site, slight swelling
Feb 17: Body ache, no fever, redness of the skin and elevated temperature in the vaccinated site.
Feb 18: Redness a tad reduced, area that's red has slightly increased, still warm to touch

Here is a picture of the vaccinated site:
Almost elliptical area having redness and hardness.


Fortunately escaped the more severe of the vaccination.

Vaccination location details here:






Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 in Honolulu was a pleasant experience

  Today, we got our first COVID-19 vaccine shot in Honolulu, Hawaii. There was no hitch of any kind and everything went smoothly.


The vaccination for senior citizens started from Jan 25. The registration for getting the vaccination was available on line. The registration begins with choosing a date and time on the Queens Hospitals online forms. 

A day before the vaccination, there was a telephone call to verify the details of the folks receiving the vaccine and making sure they show up.

The vaccination was provided at the Blaisdell Center, a landmark community facility in Honolulu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_S._Blaisdell_Center



Photo source: Facebook

Folks receiving the vaccine need to line up (of course mask and distancing was mandatory) for entering the registration and the vaccination seats. There were helpers to assist seniors who did not bring in the Covid-19 safety questionnaire, an important document for addressing any safety issues.

After verifying the registration information, folks were guided to the vaccination seats, that took place in the entrance of the concert hall. There was no need to line up as there were plenty of stations. The details of the person receving the vaccination was verifieed one more time. They were especially careful of people who had previous history of allergy, vaccination or food related. Folks who had allergy hsitory were asked to wait for 30 minutes after they took the vaccination. The following is the detail of the immunization recieved:

MODERNA Covid-19, mRNA vaccine (PF) 0.5 mL IM

The second shot is scheduled after i month interval.

The experience was pleasnat and the execution was faultless. 


Here are some pictures of the day:

Line up to enter


Register




Wait for a short while after the shot



Get a badge to show that you are vaccinated.



Tuesday, January 26, 2021

India starts sending out COVID-19 vaccine overseas

Call it 'Vaccine Diplomacy' or any other name. It is undeniably the moment when you need to step forward to help. India is just doing it. Over the years, Indian pharmaceutical industries have built a solid foundation to excel in the production of drugs, vaccines, etc. Probably this is the moment it makes a world impact.

Nepal, Bangladesh, Brazil, Morocco, Myanmar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Bhutan, Mongolia, Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan have already received or in the process of receiving the COVID-19 vaccines, on is a renamed version of AstraZeneca and the other a Indian produced vaccine.

https://in.news.yahoo.com/india-sends-covid-vaccines-nepal-175925413.html

Partnering with WHO and UNICEF training ("The key topics covered were COVID-19 disease and vaccines, conducting COVID-19 vaccination, logistics and cold chain management, safe injection practices and waste management,' ") in administering COVID-19 was also provided for some of these countries.

More recently vaccines will be provided to Saudi Arabia and UAE.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/saudi-arabia-brazil-set-to-get-vaccines-as-india-begins-exports/ar-BB1cYd8N?ocid=uxbndlbing

https://gulfnews.com/uae/vaccine-maitri-indias-coordinated-efforts-to-fight-covid-19-1.1611578739605

More on vaccines to Africa:

https://southasiamonitor.org/india/after-neighbourhoold-india-sends-coronavirus-vaccines-morocco-africa

Even some European countries are seeking Indian made vaccines:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-20/u-k-belgium-among-nations-seeking-cheaper-indian-vaccines

Watch this Video:


Monday, January 4, 2021

India's indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 will be administered in India

  COVAXIN

https://www.bharatbiotech.com/covaxin.html



"U.S. biopharmaceutical firm Ocugen and Bharat Biotech have signed a binding letter of intent (LOI) to co-develop India’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin for the United States market.....

----------

Covaxin offers a vaccine candidate that is different from other options currently available in the U.S. market with potentially broader coverage against multiple protein antigens of the virus,” said Harvey Rubin of the University of Pennsylvania and a member of Ocugen’s Vaccine Scientific Advisory Board."


The above extracted from:

https://www.thehindu.com/business/bharat-biotech-ocugen-to-take-covaxin-to-us/article33397081.ece