KOLKATA: As the inoculation drive for the 12-14 year age group was launched in Bengal on Monday, much enthusiasm was noticed at the school camps organized by the KMC, much more than that at the civic vaccination centres in the city.
KMC vaccinators had a busy day at Chetla Girls’ High School, inoculating more than 150 students. A long queue built up from the morning at the temporary vaccination camp at the school after mayor Firhad Hakim inaugurated it at 10.30am. “The response from students at Chetla Girls’ High School and a couple of other schools was encouraging. By 12.30pm, the number of recipients crossed the 100 mark,” said a KMC health department official posted at the headquarters.
“Parents seem more comfortable taking their children to their schools for vaccination rather than visiting a vaccination centre in a hospital or a clinic. But since this is a new vaccine, we wanted to see how it goes. There will be more camps in schools in coming days,” said a senior health department official. The health department activated 334 school camps against 356 centres in hospitals, urban primary health centres and block primary health centres across Bengal. “A total of 88,842 children between 12 and 14 years of age were vaccinated across Bengal till 8pm on Monday,” said director, health services, Ajay Chakraborty.
Saptami Chatterjee, a Class-VIII student at Chetla Girls’, said she was apprehensive and at the same time, excited about receiving her first dose of Covid vaccine, Corbevax. “At first I was a bit nervous, but I was excited, too. The experience was satisfying. Now, I feel protected against the novel coronavirus,” Saptami said.
Ipsita Koyal, also a Chetla resident who studies at DAV School, went to the vaccine camp at Chetla Girls’ for her jab. “The experience was fantastic. Now I will convince my friends, who have not taken their vaccine yet, to go for it as soon as possible,” Ipsita said.
At Bethune School, parents, along with their wards, started arriving before 10am. The school had arranged for a separate counter in a different building for registration to ensure a smooth process. Sources said more than 100 students there were administered their first dose.
More schools are gearing up to open their vaccination centres soon. Amit Sen Majumdar, headmaster of Jodhpur Park Boys’ School, said, “Our vaccination drive has not started yet. It will most likely start next week. We are yet to receive a date from the health warden from our ward. The inoculation drive will be for classes VI to VIII. The older students have already been vaccinated. Most students have already started coming to school. They are just happy to be back. But vaccination is an important step for Covid precaution. It will make them safer.”
