Busting COVID-19 vaccination myths

Dr Ritesh Malik, Founder and CEO of Innov8 Coworking, has been on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight at his family-owned hospital in Delhi, Radix Healthcare. 

As is apparent from the rising number of infections and fatalities, the second wave is much more lethal and "we cannot afford to let our guards down," he said.

In a recent conversation, he busted several myths around vaccination, explained why going against nature is dangerous, and emphasised that ultimately, the only way to deal with the virus is by wearing double masks and getting the country’s population vaccinated.

"If you are not getting vaccinated, then you are becoming a liability on the nation," he stressed.

At a time like this, the nation needs to come together and help each other out, Dr Ritesh said. 

Read about how the Indian startup ecosystem is battling the second wave of COVID-19 here.

The Interview

In an exclusive conversation with YourStory, Dr Ritesh Malik reveals all that he has learnt about the virus in the past year. He talks about where we went wrong as a nation, when the second wave of COVID-19 will peak, what to expect from the third wave, and most importantly, how you can save yourself and your family at this time, among several other important things. Read more.

Editor’s Pick: WiJungle

When Karmesh Gupta started his entrepreneurial journey along with his cousin Praveen Gupta in 2014, he did not know what was in store for them. Within three years, they faced three continuous failures, which taught them the three most important lessons for any startup founder — resilience, hard work, and consistency.

Continuing with their exploration, the duo decided to plunge into the cybersecurity sector. In 2017, they launched WiJungle to disrupt the global cybersecurity market and launched - Unified Network Security Platform (UNSP). Read more. 

Startup Spotlight

Dehradun startup HireACamp aims to redefine the camping experience for Indians

Despite the growing popularity of camping in the country, booking camps has been one of the biggest challenges, as the industry is highly unorganised. While campers (travellers) don’t have many options to choose from, camp owners are still managing their bookings like they used to do back in the 90s due to limited marketing knowledge.

In a quest to bridge the gap between travellers and camp owners, Kashish Pahwa and Mitul Agrawal started HireACamp in December 2019. Read more. 

News & Updates

• Mission Oxygen is looking to get over 6,000 oxygen concentrators by May 15. Democracy People Foundation has already distributed the first 100 to 14 hospitals and will be distributing over 1,200 within this week.

• Keventers and Amba Dalmia Foundation Trust aim to raise Rs 1 crore for oxygen supplies to be made readily available. The campaign has raised Rs 35 lakh from over 100 donors so far.

• Reliance Industries said it is now the largest producer of medical-grade liquid oxygen in the country, producing over 1,000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen to fulfil 11 percent of the country's oxygen requirements.

• US epidemiologist Dr Anthony Fauci has suggested a lockdown for a few weeks in India as an immediate step to contain the spread of the coronavirus. He said another immediate step the country can take is to get supplies of oxygen, medication, and PPEs.

• More than 79 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses are available with the states and union territories, and over 17 lakh doses will be supplied to them in the next three days, the Union Health Ministry said.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“About 14 percent of India's population is undernourished, 189.2 million people are malnourished, and about 34.7 percent are children under the age of five. My mission is to feed as many people as I can.”

— Philem Rohan Singh, Cyclist

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