HYDERABAD: A total of 1,87,538 teenagers belonging to the age group of 15 to 18 were vaccinated from January 3 to 5 in the state. Around 16.53 lakh of the same age group are yet to be vaccinated.
While many students are excited about taking their first dose of vaccination, a few are quite nervous and scared of the rumoured side effects. Those whose examinations are going on are willingly skipping the vaccination till their exams are completed, fearing fever and cold.
Karan Jain, a 17-year-old student said his college was conducting quarterly examinations which may or may not be considered as final examinations due to the rise in Covid cases, and he could not get distracted by the after-effects of taking the first dose of vaccination. “Those who I know have said they got a mild fever, cold, cough and rise and drop in sugar levels after taking the vaccination and I want to presently focus on my exams. I will get vaccinated after my exams are completed,” he said.
Most of the students who study in private educational institutes had to book their slots through the CoWIN website and said the process was easy as they just had to give out basic details like name, age and Aadhaar card number.
Shiva Sudiksha, a 17-year-old girl took her first dose of Covaxin at a private hospital in the city and was accompanied by her father. She said it was not difficult to get vaccinated as she just had to show the booking details through the CoWIN app and the vaccination was completed in a few minutes. “I was happy to get vaccinated and had the time to do so since I have online classes going on. The health authorities also advised me to sit for 15 minutes after the vaccination was completed to check if there were any side effects or giddiness. I was perfectly fine and have no fever or body pains as of now,” said Sudiksha.
Tinku Hamel, a 16-year-old student said she was excited to get vaccinated but said that she would not miss school as holidays were starting soon. “I am very excited to take my first dose of vaccination and will feel safer, but since I may require rest for two days, I will get vaccinated on Saturday or Sunday,” she said.
A free vaccination drive was also conducted for the students belonging to the 15 to 18 years age group who study in government educational institutions. “The medical team visited all government educational institutions on January 5th and provided free vaccination to the students. We expect to complete the vaccination by tomorrow for all students who fall under the same age group in government institutions. Students’ ID cards are checked as well,” said Laxma Reddy, Deputy Director, Board of Intermediate Education. He added that there were talks going on with the district medical health office on setting up vaccination centres in educational institutions during the Sankranti break which is from January 8 to 16.
