The drive to administer the second dose of Covaxin to students of government and aided schools will start in February so the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinees are fully vaccinated by the time their exams start in March and April, respectively, a government official said.
The department left it to Kolkata Municipal Corporation to facilitate the vaccination of the 15-18 age group (students of classes IX to XII) in Kolkata from early January.
The civic bodies across the state have been entrusted with the responsibility of vaccinating school students.
The respective boroughs of the civic body are allotting the dates for the second dose.
Papia Singh Mahapatra, headmistress of Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls’ High School in south-central Kolkata, said the drive to administer the second dose will be held at her institution from February 1 to 3.
“The Madhyamik and HS candidates will be called first. Since the HS candidates will appear in their practicals from February 15 in schools, they will be the first to receive the second dose,” Mahapatra said.
Madhyamik will be held from March 7 to 16 and the HS theory papers from April 2 to 20.
The recipients will be called in small groups and split into slots of 25 each to avoid crowding. Once the students of a slot exit the campus, those of the next will enter.
“This template was followed in the first phase of the vaccination drive, too,” said an official of the school.
The drive to administer the first dose in the school was held from January 3 to 6.
Debika Bose, headmistress of Baghbazar Multipurpose Girls’ School in north Kolkata, said students would be administered the second jab from February 7. The first phase of vaccination at the school was held from January 3.
“The second phase will be held from February 7 as Saraswati Puja will be held on February 5 and 6. We have spoken to the medical officer concerned about this,” she said.
An official of Borough V said the second phase of the immunisation drive at Sanskrit Collegiate School, Hare School and Hindu School in north Kolkata would be held from February 7.
“At Sanskrit Collegiate School, students of adjacent schools, too, will get the second dose,” he said.
Debabrata Mukherjee, headmaster of Sanskrit Collegiate School, said the guardians of HS examinees would be relieved knowing that their children would be fully vaccinated before the start of the practicals in mid-February.
The camps for the first dose are continuing in some schools in the borough.
An official of the department said even as the state secondary education board and higher secondary council had taken elaborate arrangements, such as tripling the number of venues so the on-campus board examinations can be held with safety nets, they want to get all candidates to be fully vaccinated before the exams start.