Karnataka To Begin Vaccination Drives in Colleges By July

The Karnataka government has decided to vaccinate all the students pursuing higher education courses from the first week of July. The Higher Education Department has decided to provide vaccinations to all the students, teachers, and non-teaching staff at institutions across the state after an expert committee led by Dr. Devi Shetty submitted a report recommending the reopening of campuses for higher education courses. The Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayana said that the government had decided to conduct a vaccination drive for students and staff at the institution level, probably in the first week of July.

According to information provided by the department, the total number of students and staff will be around 20 lakhs. "The drive will begin after we confirm the availability of vaccine stock," a senior department official said.

It is considering resuming offline classes for undergraduate and postgraduate students a week after the first dose of vaccines has been administered.

Vaccination drives are being held by a majority of the institutions for their students, staff, and parents.

"We want the government to ensure that teachers, staff, and parents are vaccinated on a priority basis, to help resume physical classes," said D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka.

B N Yogananda, a member of the Coordination Committee of the Karnataka Private Schools Parents' Association, stated, "Before reopening schools, we urge the government to think about it. It is not a good idea to reopen physical education classes without first having a thorough discussion and consultation."