Private schools in Hyderabad resist Covid vax for kids

Hyderabad: Several private schools are resisting vaccines for students and not letting health officials conduct vaccination drives for the 12-14 age group fearing untoward incidents. As a result, the District Medical Health Officer (DMHO), Hyderabad, asked officials from the education department to convince schools to allow vaccination drives on campus.

The reluctance of schools has hit the district’s coverage of vaccination in the age group.

As on Monday, the coverage for teens in the 12-14 age group in the district with the first dose is 33 per cent. In comparison, the average coverage in the state is 56 per cent. Among all districts, Hyderabad has the third lowest coverage, with only Kumaram Bheem (28 per cent) and Medchal (25 per cent) districts recording lower figures. Hyderabad DMHO J. Venkati said managements of many private schools want to first check with the parents of students on giving the jabs for their wards.

To resolve the issue, a meeting was held on Friday attended by the DMHO, District Education Officers (DEOs), Deputy DEOs, Additional Collector and Collector of Hyderabad. During the meeting, Venkati submitted a list of schools that did not allow the drives. The DMHO also pointed that even in schools allowing the drives only 40-50 per cent students were getting the jabs.