‘Vaccinate staff on priority basis before opening up schools’

IIPH-Hyderabad director suggests allowing younger children into schools first

While the Telangana government seems to be in a hurry to open up schools and colleges post lockdown, public health experts are suggesting a different timeline, calling for priority vaccination for teachers, administrators, housekeeping staff, bus drivers and others, as quickly as possible. “Immunisation has been started for children above 12 years of age in some countries. If the school staff are quickly immunised by the time the Dasara holidays end, schools can reopen. This could also be done in a graded manner,” suggests Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH)-Hyderabad director G.V.S. Murthy, in an exclusive interaction. However, contrary to what the official thinking is, Dr. Murthy wants the younger children to be allowed first into schools with vaccinated personnel. “We can start with younger children below 10 years starting off earlier and then those in the 10-16 year age group followed by the secondary schools over a three-week window,” he moots.