Sindh to give Covid jabs to students as schools reopen

As students across Sindh headed back to schools and colleges on Monday after a month-long hiatus, the provincial government finalised a week-long immunisation campaign aiming to inoculate 1.4 million students against the coronavirus.

The campaign to vaccinate students of grade IX and above will begin next week on September 9, decided the Sindh health and education departments at a meeting held on the day.

The students will most likely be administered doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, said Sindh Health Director General Dr Irshad Ahmed Memon, speaking to The Express Tribune. “We have enough stock - at least for the first dose.”

Officials of the provincial education department claim that in public schools nearly 90 per cent and in private schools more than 85 per cent of the teaching and non-teaching staff has already been vaccinated.

The meeting, chaired by Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho and Sindh Education Minister Sardar Shah, decided that school administrations’ would reach out to parents and obtain their consent for their child’s vaccination.

Replying to a question, Dr Memon confirmed that the parents will be taken into confidence so they cooperate with the health department to protect students against the deadly virus.

The campaign, aiming to vaccinate 1.4m students of grades IX to XII, is to be launched at the district level at first and then extended to the sub-division level. The health department has formed 2,527 teams for this purpose.

Dr Memon said that his department has enough staff to be posted at all vaccination centers set up for students.

“Registration should also be ensured once the vaccine is completed,” Dr Pechuho had directed the meeting, which decided that students could get the jabs separately as well if they were not vaccinated during the drive.

The meeting decided that the health department would be responsible for making arrangements regarding the vaccines in educational institutes and the district officials of both the departments were directed to coordinate and devise the plan for their respective districts accordingly.

“Arrangements for cold chain storage facilities should be done,” directed Dr Pechuho. She reiterated that immunisation against the deadly virus was crucial for the continuation of education activities, which have been repeatedly disrupted since the pandemic broke out.

Intermittent closures of schools in efforts to curb the spread of the virus have hampered the teaching process, left parents and students distressed, teachers flustered and school administrations dismayed.

More recently, the Sindh government had notified closures of schools from July 25 as the fourth wave of the pandemic swept across the province. Intermediate examinations were held as scheduled, however, beginning on August 10. The provincial government had announced the reopening of schools by August 19 and then delayed it by another week citing insufficient immunisation of teachers and staff. The chief minister had said the week-long delay was for private schools to increase inoculation among their teachers and staff and to give parents the time to complete their vaccination.

Educational institutes across Sindh reopened campuses on Monday subject to a 50 per cent attendance policy, implementation of Covid-related SOPs and vaccination certificates of parents, staff and teachers.

According to public schools’ records, 95 per cent of the teaching staff and 89 per cent of the non-teaching staff have been vaccinated. “Not a single person was seen without the vaccination card [when the education minister inspected four schools and colleges on the first day back],” a senior education department official told The Express Tribune.

Meanwhile, Sindh Education Department Private Schools Registrar Rafia Javed said that over 85 per cent of teaching staff and 87 per cent of the non-teaching staff at private schools have received the jabs. “The remaining target will be achieved this week.”

She added that private schools’ management and parents have welcomed the decision to inoculate older students. “They wanted us to start from private schools. They are health conscious and want their children’s safety.”

Replying to a question, Javed said that she had observed resistance during polio and anti-measles drives in the past. “The Covid-19 vaccination is a different thing and from what I know, everybody is willing to say yes to it,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2021.