Karnataka to administer Covaxin to students aged 15 to 17 from next month, with parental consent

All high schools and pre-university colleges in Karnataka will start vaccinating students aged 15 to 17 years from January 3. The students will be administered Covaxin and will have to take their second dose after a span of 28 days, The Hindu reported.

While the Department of Public Instruction will ensure that the camps are held in all government and aided schools, private schools will be asked to get in touch with the Department of Health and Family Welfare to conduct camps on their premises. Private schools will also be allowed to tie up with private hospitals to conduct camps.

A meeting to discuss the logistics was chaired by Vandita Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government. R Vishal, Commissioner for Public Instruction, who was part of the meeting on December 28 to discuss the modalities of how the vaccinations will be rolled out, said that schools have been asked to conduct a meeting with the parent-teacher association and ensure that they get their consent before jabbing the students.

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School managements have also been asked to coordinate with parents and ensure that they hold camps for students who do not attend offline classes. The state government has decided that students will have to produce their Aadhaar card or school identity card before getting vaccinated. The government has also said that teachers and PU lecturers should encourage students who have dropped out of school or PU colleges to come to the educational institutions to get jabbed.