Students can get vax dose at their college itself

College students will be allowed inside the campus only after producing the COVID vaccination certificate, and those who are yet to receive jab can take the same at the special vaccination camps organised at respective colleges, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Wednesday.

Speaking after inspecting the vaccination camp and classrooms at Loyola College on Wednesday, the minister said: “On behalf of the Greater Chennai Corporation, COVID special vaccination camps are being conducted at 122 government and private colleges in Chennai. On that basis, we inspected the special camp at Loyola College today to ensure that the college is following the COVID guidelines issued by the government. We found that stickers have been pasted in every alternative seat and sanitisers have been placed in front of every classroom,” said Ma Subramanian.

In Tamil Nadu, there are nearly 1,450 arts and science colleges where over 10 lakh students are studying. While 4.5 lakh students are studying in engineering colleges, over 2.49 lakh students are studying in polytechnic colleges. More than 16 lakh students are studying in various colleges across the State, and college managements should ensure that all the students have taken at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, the State inoculated 5.75 lakh vaccine doses on Tuesday, the highest single-day vaccination so far. The minister said that till Tuesday, Tamil Nadu has vaccinated a total of 3,26,80,313 people, of which 3,05,52,241 doses are given under the government schemes, while 21,28,072 persons got vaccinated at private hospitals.

“In India, Tamil Nadu stands first for vaccinating the highest number of people against COVID at private hospitals under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds. And we are expecting that the daily vaccination in the State would cross six lakh on Wednesday,” said Subramanian.