Some states start jabs for students heading abroad

Shreya Bhandary, Priyanka Sahoo and Ramesh Babu the first and the second doses for Covishield has been recommended to be 12-16 weeks, it is 4-6 weeks for Covaxin.

In Karnataka, certificates confirming the inoculation are being issued on the spot. The state government has asked students to carry visas, admission receipts, or other relevant documents.

While Kerala has a special portal for students, Karnataka has provided an email address that students may use to book their slots.

Last week, the Kerala government decided to give the second dose of the Covishield vaccine to students who are travelling abroad for studies 4-6 weeks after the first jab, as against the 12-16-week recommended gap.

The Kerala government has also decided to issue vaccine certificates carrying passport numbers. At least 2,000 students have applied for preferential vaccination so far. Estimates show that about 20,000 students from the state go abroad annually for higher education before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Karnataka has also come up with similar guidelines, with the special vaccination drive starting from Tuesday with around 300 students getting vaccinated. “Vaccination confirmation was not attached with the passport but with the PAN card and Aadhar card. But now, to facilitate the students and employees going abroad, it has been linked with passports,” Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, deputy CM of Karnataka and head of the state’s task force on Covid-19 said.

While Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have announced special inoculation drives, the process is yet to begin.

Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and CEO of Leverage Edu, a startup that guides students who want to study in foreign universities, said the move will be a big relief for students. “In times like this, state governments need to empathise with the fact that students invest a lot of time and resources to get into their dream universities,” he said.

Leap, another education-centric firm that facilitates end-toend solutions for aspirants, said the vaccination drive will allow students to reach their universities for the fall semester.