Some states start jabs for students heading abroad
Shreya Bhandary, Priyanka Sahoo and Ramesh Babu
MUMBAI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At least five states have started vaccinating on priority students above the age of 18 who have been accepted by foreign universities and those seeking employment abroad, providing them immunisation certificates to facilitate their entry to other countries, according to officials.
Restrictions prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown on travel and fear of infections dampened the hopes of aspirants who wished to study in foreign universities last year. While many chose to pursue their courses online, others put off their plans, hoping to attend classes on campus in 2021.
On Monday, Andhra Pradesh became the latest state to announce priority vaccination of students. “Covid-19 vaccine to be administered to students wanting to go abroad to pursue education, and to those who want to go abroad for jobs. Vaccination certificate to be issued to the aforementioned,” read a statement issued by chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s office.
The other states that have launched similar drives are Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana.
The Pune Municipal Corporation and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation began vaccinating such students days after state tourism minister Aditya Thackeray announced the drive.
“My friends managed to get a slot on the first two days itself, and even though the system can act as a hindrance whenever we try to confirm slots, I finally managed to get my shot on Tuesday,” said 25-year old Akriti Pandya, who works in a Mumbai multinational corporation and has a slot for pursuing MBA at an Australian university.
The Maharashtra government’s directive to give the second dose of vaccine within six weeks will help Pune-based Siddhant Yelwande, a 22-year-old admitted to the University of Minnesota, US. “My second dose on CO-WIN app was assigned for August 24 even though I was supposed to reach the university on August 23,” he said.
India is currently carrying out mass inoculation drives with two vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin. While the gap between 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. “Since the start of the pandemic, international students have been dealing with a lot of uncertainty with regard to their classes, whether they would be able to fly or not. Many students who were supposed to start their classes last year deferred their degree to this year, hoping to be able to attend offline classes,” said Vaibhav Singh, Co-founder of Leap.
(With inputs from other state bureaus)