BENGALURU: Deepak Vijayakumar, a working professional who has received an admission offer for a postgraduation course in Vancouver, Canada, found it next to impossible to book a vaccination slot on Co-Win. He was relieved when the state government included foreign-bound students in the priority list and happily joined the queue for a jab at the Bengaluru City University (BCU) on Tuesday.
A total of 270 such candidates got their first dose at the special walk-in camp. “The varsity in Vancouver has not mandated vaccination, but travel becomes much easier with it. They waive the 14-day quarantine period if one has taken both shots. Getting a slot was difficult earlier, and this drive means the world to me,” Deepak said.
The camp began at 3pm, but many students arrived early. “Students started coming in as early as 10am, and the queue grew by 1pm. More people turned up than what we had anticipated. Thankfully, we had chosen a bigger space and could accommodate everyone with adequate social distancing. All the students who came were vaccinated as the drive continued past 7.30pm,” said the BCU vice-chancellor, professor Lingaraja Gandhi.
The drive, he added, will start again at 10am on Wednesday, and the university will seek the help of its NSS volunteers for the same.
“I was supposed to go to Virginia Tech last year, but was unable to go because of the Covid situation. I have my visa ready and the vaccine comes as a big relief,” said Atul Bharadwaj, a resident of Uttarahalli.
Deputy chief minister CN Ashwath Narayan, who launched the camp, said that the vaccination confirmation had been attached to the passport. Earlier, it was linked with only PAN and Aadhaar cards. “To facilitate students and employees going abroad, the passport has been included,” he said.
Considering the unique requirements of these groups, the minimum interval between Covishield doses has been reduced from 12 weeks to slightly below six weeks. A further decrease will not be possible, said Narayan, who heads the state Covid task force.
Responding to a query on the availability of drugs to treat mucormycosis (black fungus), he said that there was a shortage of Liposomal amphotericin. But he pointed out that some other drugs were available. A tender for 1 lakh vials of Liposomal amphotericin has been floated. Steps have also been taken to buy 3 lakh vials of Emulsion amphotericin and 22,000 other injections and tablets.
