Colleges, univs plan campus jab drives for students

Kolkata: Campuses are planning students’ immuniza-tion drives to bring back in-person classes.
Come Monday, Bhawanipur Education Society will start vaccinating its students in a two-day camp. “Around 1,000 have registered. We will provide the vaccines at a subsidized rate of Rs 500,” said college vice-chairman Miraj D Shah.
St Xavier’s College will follow suit later this month.Principal Reverend Father Dominic Savio said, “We expect to start inoculating our students around the third week of June. Currently, our campus is being used by KMC as a vaccination centre for the general public. We are trying to give the vaccines at a subsidized cost.”
Jadavpur University registrar Snehamanju Basu, said, “Our 11,000 students will be vaccinated pending approval from the higher education department. I have written to the department and the CMOH, South 24 Parganas. However, teaching and support staff will get their vaccines first. It’s taking us a little time because the inoculation will be free of cost.”
The Institute of Engineering and Management (IEM) along with sister campus, University of Engineering and Management (UEM), have tied up with Woodlands Hospital to inoculate students across engineering, management, law, hotel management, BBA and BCA departments, along with PhD and research scholars. “It should take around five months to cover our 10,000-odd students. The faculty members are already getting jabbed. When the government allows reopening, we want to be prepared,” said Satyajit Chakrabarti, director, IEM & UEM.
“Physical lectures, library study groups and the pother various college events seem so far in the past,” said Arjama Bakshi, student of sociology at JU.
“A vaccinated community will ensure we can get a lot of these things back,” said Basu.