The district administration has intensified awareness campaigns in all degree, engineering colleges in the district and instructed the managements of both the private and government colleges to bar students, who fail to comply with COVID-19 etiquettes including wearing of facemask, from entering the campuses.
Joint Collector C. Sridhar told The Hindu that the vaccination drive was in brisk progress at all the colleges in the district with good response from students.
“We are closely monitoring the day-to-day statistics and have initiated steps to vaccinate all students aged above 18. Despite sensitisation programmes on facemask protocol, some students continue to ignore the same while attending classes or on the campuses. As such, the principals are sought to address this issue. Disciplinary action would be taken against the managements which fail to take this seriously,” he said.
Deputy District Medical and Health Officer P. Ravi Raju said that preliminary meetings with principals and correspondents of all degree and engineering colleges in Chittoor revenue division were completed. “Special teams are formed to check the efficacy of the ongoing vaccination drive for students on the campuses,” he said.
‘Vaccine hesitancy in hamlets’
The Joint Collector said that during his visit to the rural hamlets, he found that some elderly people were reluctant to take the vaccination jabs, citing underlying health issues. “In such cases, we insist that they get a medical certificate from their family doctors or area medical officers regarding their ailments. The field officials on COVID duties have been asked to encourage the elderly to take the jabs, and not to entertain lame excuses. Some medical officers have suggested that the pensions of those not cooperating to get jabbed be held. However, we want to first try sensitising them about the importance of vaccination before taking such steps,” he said.