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Dakshina Kannada and Udupi’s secondary school, PU students to be vaccinated in a week

January 04, 2022 10:24 am | Updated 10:24 am IST - Mangaluru

Booster dose for those above 60, health workers from Jan. 10

A student getting vaccinated during the inauguration of the vaccination drive at Goverment Pre University College on Car Street in Mangaluru on Monday.

The Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district administrations have planned to vaccinate more than 1.5 lakh students aged between 15 and 18 in seven days. The two districts have also planned to give booster dose for those aged 60 and above and health and frontline workers from January 10.

Speaking at a district-level programme to launch a drive to vaccinate those aged between 15 and 18, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra said on Monday that the district administration has estimated that 1.05 lakh students are eligible for vaccination. As students from other parts of the State and elsewhere study in the district, this number might go up to 1.25 lakh, he added.

“We have decided to reach out to all these children in the next seven days,” he said.

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District Health and Family Welfare Officer M. Kishore Kumar said that gram panchayats have been tasked with vaccinating students who have dropped out of schools and colleges. Facilities are in place to counsel students and parents to overcome vaccine hesitancy, Dr. Kumar added.

Udupi MLA K. Raghupati Bhat and Udupi Deputy Commissioner M. Kurma Rao said that the district administration has planned to vaccinate 17,000 students every day and cover over 54,000 in four days. “We will look at those who have missed out and reach out to all the beneficiaries in a week,” Mr. Rao told reporters.

Mr. Rao said that Udupi has made good progress in vaccination of those aged 18 and above. So far, 96.3% of eligible people in this category have taken their first dose, while 84% have taken their second.

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Mr. Bhat said: “As we have received good support from people during the earlier drives, we are hopeful of the same cooperation in reaching out to young beneficiaries now.”

On Monday, a total of 21,026 students were vaccinated across Dakshina Kannada. This included 250 Class IX, Class X and Pre University students on the premises of Government Pre University College, Car Street, Mangaluru, where the drive was formally launched by Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel.

II PU student Sushmita, who was the first to receive the vaccine in the college, said that her younger brother, Beerappa, who is in Class IX, received the vaccine in his school on Monday. Her classmate Punyashree, who was the next to receive the vaccine, said that teachers held a meeting on Friday and clarified all their doubts about vaccination.

More than 1,000 students were vaccinated at Expert Pre University College in the city. As many as 717 students were vaccinated at the Subrahmaneshwara PU College in Kukke Subrahmanya, where the drive was launched by Ministers S. Angara and V. Sunil Kumar.

In Udupi, a total of 14,500 students were given the vaccine. The vaccination drive was formally launched at the Government Secondary School in Nittur in Udupi.

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