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| Reopening schools without COVID jabs | | | Jammu and Kashmir government deciding to reopen the educational institutions in the union territory is a welcome move but the question that everyone is asking whether it’s safe to send children back to schools and colleges without them getting a COVID-19 jab?
At present the immunization drive is only confined to health workers in J&K and it appears that at this speed it will take months for the vaccines to reach the common people.
If the government wants to reopen the educational institutions then it should either get the students vaccinated in schools and colleges or make the COVID-19 vaccines available in the open market.
Everyone is of the opinion that the speed of the vaccination drive has to pick up. If children are sent back to schools and colleges without immunization, these places can become COVID-19 hotspots and it can create a catastrophic situation.
The administration has been claiming that a plan is being worked out to ensure that students return to schools and colleges without any fear or anxiety and in coming days more steps will be taken to vaccinate more and more people. In other states and union territories pace has picked up. The Health Department in Jammu and Kashmir should take a cue from the administration of these places. At least it needs to formulate a plan for vaccinating the students as their number is huge.
Parents have kept their wards at home for the past one year just to keep them safe. It seems unlikely that they will send their children back to schools without them getting vaccinated. If the government is really keen on reopening the educational institutions, then it should work out a mechanism to set up the vaccination centers in schools and colleges and reopen these institutions in phases.
Experts have already warned that the children can become the carriers and spread the COVID-19 very fast. It’s no point taking chances when the cure has come.
The schools have already sent the notifications to the parents but there is no mention of whether the schools will provide the vaccinations or not. This question has to be answered before the children return to schools and colleges.
The J&K government recently issued the guidelines for reopening of colleges and universities but these were just SOPs like use of sanitizers, wearing masks and maintaining social distance. The vaccine link was missing this has to be established before students return to the educational institutions in J&K. |
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