PANAJI
Vaccination teams from the health department will from Monday go about the challenging task of administering the first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 to 15-18 year old students in the over 500 high schools and higher secondary schools across the State.
The vaccination drive -- a target of which four days has been set -- in the educational institutions is being co-ordinated by the Education Department which has already issued instructions to school managements to prepare the logistics including providing manpower to assist the teams and arranging a room on campus.
Education department officials however are less than optimistic that the drive will take off from day one given that Monday is the first day that students will return to schools after the Christmas vacation.
"A consent form is required to be signed by parents. Monday is the first working day for schools after the vacation. So it is likely that we may not achieve satisfactory numbers from the start," said a senior official from the education department.
The actual vaccination programme is fixed to commence in the schools from 9 am.
The State government, meanwhile, has set a target of inoculating all of the approximately 72,000 children in the 500-odd educational institutions.
Health Minister on Sunday said, the target is proposed to be achieved in four days once the drive begins on Monday.
He made the claim at a meeting of health ministers which was chaired by the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
According to him, 72,000 doses of vaccine for the drive to inoculate 15-18 year olds have already been received by the State government.
"We have already received the stock of doses to vaccinate children between 15 to 18 years. It will be administered within 3-4 days from January 3 onwards," he said while speaking to journalists on Sunday.
Health department officials, meanwhile, will be stretched to the limit ensuring teams fan to the 500-odd institutions to ensure 100 per cent coverage of the 72,000 teenagers in 3-4 days as claimed by the health minister.
Meanwhile, the health department has a plan to cover children who for any reason skip the drive in the first week.
"They will be referred to the closest health centre on subsequent Wednesdays," said an official of the health department involved in planning the drive.
Students who subject themselves to vaccination will be required to carry any six-digit I-D card issued by the government. Also, once administered the doze, they will be kept for observation for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Also, students will be provided a helpline number which they can call to seek explanations for any query they may have on the vaccination.
