Maharashtra govt to start special Covid-19 vaccination drive for college students from Oct 25

A beneficiary takes his vaccine dose at Nair Hospital on October 14. File pic

Colleges across the state have just three days' time to prepare for a special vaccination drive by the state government for students, as State Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced on Thursday that the process will start from October 25 and go on till November 2. This will include students in the age group 18-25 years, as many are not being able to attend physical classes as they are unvaccinated.

As per government guidelines, students have to be fully vaccinated to attend in-person classes. This special vaccination drive is expected to be a great relief to those who are waiting for their vaccine shots. The colleges will collate data related to vaccination of students and based on that the government will prepare the number of doses required for the drive. Both Covishield and Covaxin will be included in the drive based on availability and time-gap.

Speaking at a press conference with Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant, Tope said, "Each college will need only three rooms for the drive for waiting, vaccination and observation. Everything else will be provided by the government, which includes medical staff, equipment, ambulance service and the doses." He added that colleges need to create awareness among students about the importance of vaccination. "Students must be fully vaccinated to attend physical classes. Until then they can continue with online education," said Samant.