The Q&A session will feature two medical experts answering questions from the public about the various vaccines, their effectiveness, and side effects.
If you miss the live Q&A session, a video recording will remain accessible on the U.S. Embassy Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Embassy.Paramaribo
“The U.S. is a key partner with Suriname during this pandemic, providing PPE, medical equipment, field hospitals, and most recently vaccines,” said U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer Jake Goshert. “The vaccines are the best tool to help life return to normal. But we know people have questions and concerns. So we want people to get connected with experts who have decades of experience in tackling viruses to get answers.”
Available during the session to answer questions will be Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Suriname, and Dr. Varough Deyde, director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Caribbean Regional Office.
For almost 30 years, Dr. Lewis-Bell has worked public health, with over 20 years of experience managing immunization programs at the national and regional level. She has been instrumental in introducing new vaccines into national schedules and implementing mass vaccination campaigns in her native country of Jamaica as well as other countries of the Caribbean.
Dr. Deyde represents the CDC in the Caribbean region and serves as liaison between Ministries of Health and other public health stakeholders and CDC headquarters. He began his career at the CDC in 2004. Prior to his assignment to the Caribbean, he served in Africa, where he supported the CDC’s response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 and 2015. Dr. Deyde holds a master’s degree in genetics and a PhD in molecular biology/virology.
