Unis say vaccination must but long gap, no doses back home worry international students

As foreign universities make vaccination for all incoming students, those from India face a host of problems -- low availability, which jab to take and the gap between doses.

For civil servant Kumar Vivek, getting a postgraduate degree from an Ivy League college is a dream come true. He has received an offer to study Masters of Public Administration at the prestigious Columbia University in New York and hopes to begin college from September 2021. For students who have received confirmation of admission in universities abroad & require vaccines for the same, the @mybmc has arranged free, walk in vaccination this coming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (31st May, 1st, 2nd June) at 3 centres- Rajawadi, Cooper & Kasturba (1/n) Cabinet has decided that Students going overseas for higher education will be given vaccination on priority so they can travel safelyGuidelines will be issued soon with details Maharashtra has initiated the vaccination for students travelling overseas for further studies, however the 12-15 week mandated gap by ICMR has led to apprehension about receiving the 2nd dose on time. My appeal to Health Secretary to reduce the mandated gap for these students. pic.twitter.com/ngBpgzGSrZ But before he can step foot on foreign soil, one more hurdle has been added to the mammoth task of moving across the world -- his university has mandated that all students arriving on campus must be vaccinated against Covid-19 before classes begin. As the world grapples with glaring vaccine inequity in face of the Covid-19 pandemic, India, which faces a significant challenge in vaccinating the world's second-largest population, is beset by a crippling shortage of vaccines.