Campuses face tough questions over unvaccinated freshers in Kolkata – Times of India

Kolkata News

KOLKATA: Colleges and universities in Kolkata have discovered that around 25% to 30% of their new batch of first-year students — who are 17-going-on-18 — are unvaccinated, because of the country’s vaccine mandate.
Under the circumstances, the authorities may adopt a wait-and-watch policy with this group before allowing them for offline classes when campuses reopen across the state on November 16.
Last week, the state government notified that schools, colleges and universities — most of which have stayed shut since March 2020 — would reopen for on-campus classes. The reopening order had neither placed any restriction on the number of students allowed on higher education campuses, nor had the guidelines mentioned the vaccination status of students. This has made the job of college and university authorities complicated. Calling unvaccinated students to campus might expose them to the virus and, consequently, increase their chances of getting ill.
CoWin lets those who were born up to December 2003 register for vaccination, but the minimum official vaccination age is 18.
Just after the government announced the reopening, college and university authorities started collecting copies of vaccination certificates of students, when they discovered almost 25% to 30% new students were not yet 18 and, thus, were unvaccinated. Most of them will turn 18 in the next few months, though.
At St Xavier’s College, almost 80% of students have received both doses, whereas the rest have received at least the first dose and would be eligible for the second in the coming weeks. “All our teaching and non-teaching staff are fully vaccinated. Close to 200 students who have just taken admission in first year are yet to turn 18, but they will be eligible for vaccination in the next couple of months,” said Father Dominic Savio, the principal.
In Maulana Azad College, almost 150 students are yet to turn 18. “Close to 40% students have taken both doses, while 55% have received one dose,” said Subhasis Dutta, principal. In Lady Brabourne College, too, there are new students yet to turn 18. “There are a few students who are below 18 years of age,” said Siuli Sarkar, principal of the college.
In colleges like Jaipuria, Goenka, Jadavpur University and others, too, several students are below the age of 18. “Almost 30% of students who have taken admission in UG first-semester have not turned 18. They will be turning 18 by the end of this year or early next year. Now, the government guidelines about reopening do not mention about the vaccination status of the students. We are confused about what to do. If we call unvaccinated students, it could pose a risk to them as well as others,” said the principal of a reputable college in Kolkata.
“We have not yet drawn up the final plan, but when we do it, the fact that some students are waiting for vaccination will definitely play a part. Since they are in the first year, we might call them for on-campus classes after a few weeks,” said the principal of a college in north Kolkata.
Another principal said meetings had been held with the governing body, where it had been decided to “give priority to students who are in the outgoing batches, and need to use the labs. So, first-semester students might have to wait for some weeks before they come to the campus.”
Experts said the risk to unvaccinated youngsters would be far lower than that to the middle-aged or the elderly. “First, most have developed antibodies through exposure to Covid, so they will be relatively safe even without a vaccine. Also, those below 20 are more resilient and have been fighting Covid better than the rest. So, they are likely to get a mild infection,” said Rahul Jain, internal medicine consultant, Belle Vue Clinic. He, however, added that every student should stick to Covid protocol and wear masks in class.
In some states where campuses had reopened in September, some private colleges made vaccination mandatory but faced problems with those students who are yet to turn 18. “We plan to draw up the roaster after Diwali on which students would come to college. If there is no clear instruction from the government about vaccination status, we will make seniors come to campus first. This way, the unvaccinated students will turn 18 and get their first jab at least,” said the principal of another college.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/campuses-face-tough-questions-over-unvaccinated-freshers/articleshow/87444045.cms