Karnataka Covid Vaccination: Students and Workers Going Abroad Added to Priority List

The preferential list of beneficiaries who can be vaccinated in Karnataka has been revised to include four more groups. Students and workers set to move abroad are among them— if they have received the first dose of Covishield, they can get their second shot before completion of the advised six-week period.

“The National Health Mission has revised the list of preferential groups for vaccination by adding four more groups including students going to foreign countries to pursue their studies,” said deputy chief minister Ashwath Narayana, who is also the head of the state Covid task force. “Persons who will go to other countries in order to work, workers of milk co-operative societies, and cable operators have also been included in this list.”

The vaccination campaign for students going to foreign countries to pursue their studies and those who need to travel to get employed in other countries will be launched on Tuesday (June 1) at the administrative block of Bengaluru city university, a statement from Narayana’s office said.

Those who wish to get inoculated should possess visas, admission receipts, or any such relevant documents with them. Certificates confirming the completion of the vaccination will also be issued on the spot.

The chief commissioner of civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and all the district commissioners have been asked to issue the necessary eligibility certificates to students going to foreign countries and those who need to travel to get employed in other countries based on the verification of documents.

The government order came as an addendum to its earlier order prioritising frontline workers including those working in burial grounds, crematoria and graveyards, teachers on Covid-19 duty, autorickshaw and cab drivers, government transport staff, immediate family members of health workers, electricity and water supply staff, postal employees, road-side vendors, security and housekeeping staff of offices, judicial officers, caretakers of elders and patients, child protection officers, media, suppliers of goods to hospitals, oil industry, and people with disabilities and mental health issues along with one attendant.

Priority groups include telecom and internet service providers, airline staff, construction workers, bank staff, petrol station employees, advocates, hotel and hospitality sector, film industry workers, railway employees, garment factory workers, forest department staff, those working in NHAI and GAIL, HAL employees, sportspersons representing the state and country.

The state is in lockdown until June 7 after a surge in Covid-19 cases. While the numbers have started to come down, chief minister BS Yediyurappa says there’s been no decision to ease restrictions.

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