The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that since it is very clear that the pandemic is going to be around for another year or two, the State should now be looking at returning to normality, even while living with COVID-19.
As a first step, the State should think about reopening educational institutions which have been closed for the past one-and-a half years, in a very controlled manner, with a lot of preparatory work and the strictest of protocols and monitoring in place, the IMA suggested.
As vaccination has been found to be quite effective in reducing the severity of the disease, ’ reopening of educational institutions can be thought of after ensuring that all teaching and ancillary staff associated with every institution is vaccinated.
As all above 18 years are currently being vaccinated in the State, educational institutions which cater to those above 18 years – degree courses upwards in colleges and professional colleges - should be the first to reopen. To enable this, a special vaccination drive should be conducted.
As it is no longer feasible to have all students at once in classrooms, classes should be conducted in shifts and separate batches in accordance with COVID protocols and after creating awareness among college students.
As enhancing the pace of vaccination is the only way to move towards normality, the IMA volunteered to help the government conduct special camps to vaccinate as many people as possible in the shortest time.
The IMA pointed out that the government needed to make vaccine distribution more efficient in the State and remove the hurdles in conducting vaccination in the private sector. Vaccine distribution should be done only through healthcare workers, while local bodies should only be the facilitators.
The IMA offered to help the government conduct a detailed sero prevalence study in the State with a larger sample. It also emphasised that contact tracing and testing be given more prominence as testing in the right places alone could check disease transmission more effectively.
