NEW DELHI: Keeping the health of the government schools’ children and their safety from Covid in mind, the Kejriwal government has managed to vaccinate 85 per cent of students in 15-18 years age group till January 21, said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday. He said that the Directorate of Education has set a target of 100 per cent vaccination till January 30, which appears within the reach.
“The vaccination is the most effective way to be safe from Covid and hence, it’s extremely important that all eligible students get vaccinated at the earliest. In 12 out of the 15 education districts, 85 per cent of students of the government schools have been vaccinated, and there are about 300 schools where 90 per cent of eligible students got the jabs,” he said.
Sisodia claimed that the speed at which the inoculation was being carried out in government schools was really commendable. “In these unprecedented times of the pandemic, our teachers have been at the forefront. They are taking care of not just education, but also vaccination of students. Hundred per cent vaccination of students will help us in shifting from online education to offline. Now that the Covid cases are declining and most of the students in higher classes have been inoculated, a proposal may be placed before the DDMA for the reopening of schools,” he said.
Sisodia said that while on one hand, government schools are moving towards fulfilling their target of vaccination, on the other, vaccination is being done in private schools at a snail’s pace. “Only 42 per cent of eligible students have been vaccinated in private schools till January 21. Except for East Delhi district, private schools failed to achieve even 50 per cent vaccination. They have about 3.5 lakh eligible students for Covid vaccination, but not even two lakh have been vaccinated till date. Even the aided schools haven’t fared well. So far, only 57 per cent of students have been vaccinated in the aided schools,” Sisodia said.
Vaccination of students between the age group of 15-18 years began from January 3. A nodal in charge was deployed at each school. Also, all the class teachers were asked to ensure that information about the vaccination sites reached all. The government designated over 150 sites for the vaccination of school students. The 20 school health clinics started at government schools were also turned into jab centers.
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