The students waiting for visa slots for the United States of America despite getting their I-20 (certificate of eligibility for non-immigrant student status) for studying in various universities there, are in a dilemma whether to go for vaccination here or take the jab on landing on the foreign soil.
Around 1,000 students in Chittoor district are estimated to be aspiring for higher studies abroad this year, a 50% increase over the last year’s figure. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, more than 50% of the students had opted for deferment to Spring/Fall 2021 while very few flew abroad for Fall 2020, when the pandemic graph started falling.
The aspirants are mostly in 21-30 age group who want to pursue PG and Ph.D programmes but the vaccination drive till recently was confined to those aged above 45.
Now, they are uncertain about choosing the vaccine, and many of them seem to believe Pfizer vaccine is better than the Indian-made Covishield or Covaxin.
Those destined to the U.K., Italy, Germany, Switzerland and other European universities too are yet to make up their mind on getting vaccinated here.
“As most overseas universities start classes from early August for the Fall session, students are worried that if they take the jab in June or July then they may miss their second dose as there may not be enough gap for it before they leave,” reveal a couple of overseas education consultants in Tirupati.
The Sputnik V doses that reached Hyderabad in May generated some hope among the students. “Going by the speed of the pilot trials, we thought we could happily fly with a single dose, with its superb efficiency projection. But things have not turned out as thought of and now we have no option but to go for Covishield or wait for guidelines from our universities to know whether we can fly without vaccination and get jab there on landing, of course, after the prescribed quarantine period,” says Sravani (22) of Madanapalle, who got MS Biotechnology admission for Fall-2021 and is awaiting visa slots.
