Kerala Government to begin vaccination in schools from January 19

The Kerala State Government has issued guidelines to start the COVID-19 vaccination drive in schools for students between the age of 15 to 18 from tomorrow - January 19, 2022. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting conducted with Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty and Health Minister Veena George. 

In the meeting, the decision was taken to identify schools where COVID vaccination will be administered. The schools will be selected by the district task force along with the education department. As per the decision made, schools with more than 500 beneficiaries will be selected as vaccination sites.

In a recent statement, Education Minister V Sivankutty stated that 967 schools with more than 500 student beneficiaries each will be transformed into vaccination centres from January 19, 2022, for children between the age group of 15 to 18 years. Approximately 8.14 lakh students will be vaccinated as per officials. 

Provisions for Vaccination at Schools

According to Health Minister Veena George, School vaccination sessions will be linked with nearby government COVID Vaccination Centres. School authorities are required to prepare the list of students receiving COVID vaccination in a single day and also inform the students about the timing allotted to them.

The Health Minister further added that all students eligible for vaccination have to complete their registration at the Co-Win portal and all security measures along with thermal scanning of students must also be ensured before vaccination.

Students with high body temperature will not be administered with the vaccine and children will be under 30 minutes of observation after vaccination. Authorities are also required to ensure an ambulance with oxygen facilities is at the premises if any child faces any health issues.

Children will be shifted to the nearby AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunization) management centre. The COVID-19 vaccination team will include a Health Department medical officer, a vaccinator, a staff nurse and support staff from the schools. The vaccination sessions will be conducted as per the new COVID-19 protocols.

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