Anil Vij, Home and Health Minister of Haryana, releases awareness comic

Chandigarh: Shri Anil Vij, Home and Health Minister of Haryana, released the IEC Comic – 'KIDs, VAAYU & CORONA: Covid Variants vs. Vaccine Warriors ' to aware parents and children about the COVID19 vaccine and immunization. This comic is a joint publication from Panjab University, Chandigarh and PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Shri Anil Vij, Home and Health Minister of Haryana, highlighted that routine immunization saves millions of lives every year through vaccines. He stressed that this comic will raises awareness about the vaccine and how they work by enhancing the body's natural defense and providing protection against over 20 life-threatening diseases such as Measles, Diphtheria, Pertussis & Influenza. He mentioned that the IEC Comic – 'KIDs, VAAYU & CORONA: Covid Variants vs. Vaccine Warriors ' will clear the doubts of children and their parents about the clinical trials of the COVID19 vaccine for children. He further added that children could play a key role in motivating their parents about COVID-appropriate behavior and addressing vaccine hesitancy.
These pictorial comics are conceptualized and developed by Dr. Ravindra Khaiwal, Additional Professor, Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh and Dr. Suman Mor, Chairperson and Associate Professor, Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. The authors mentioned that children communicate more effectively and can be our heroes to create awareness about COVID-19 prevention and the role of the vaccine in disease control.
 
This comic is the sixth in the series and authors have already released four comics. The comic part 1 - Who wins the fights and Part 2: Can we defeat pandemic were released by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, in early March 2020. Later Part 3- Heroes of lockdown was released by Shri V.P. Singh Badnore, Governor of Punjab, whereas part 4 - COVID appropriate behavior was made public by Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Education Minister of India. Prof (Dr) VK Paul, Member Health, NITI Aayog, released the comic 6 Rise of Vaccine – Fall of Corona was released in February 2021.
 
Dr. Ravindra Khaiwal mentioned that many countries approved the COVID19 vaccine for Children. As trials in India are under process, this comic provides a scientific explanation to clear the doubts and concerns about the vaccine. Dr. Suman Mor added that their previous comics are available in over 20 national and international languages and adopted by WHO and UNICEF. She stressed that currently, they are working with many states for regional translation to educate children to prevent and control COVID19 disease.
 
Prof. Jagat Ram, Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh and Prof. Raj Kumar, Vice-chancellor of Panjab University, both appreciated the author's initiatives.