By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 26 Mar: There was a huge buzz in the school campus and a lot of eligible children along with their parents were anxiously awaiting to get the Covid vaccination, as India rolled out the inoculation drive for the 12-14 age group. The SJA Alumni Association with Uttarakhand Health Department organised a vaccination camp for the children. The camp was inaugurated by Randhir Arora, former President of SJA Alumni Association along with Navneet Oberoi, former Vice President of SJA Alumni Association. This time to expedite the process of registration two registration counters were opened and as the health department officials were struggling to register the managing committee immediately arranged two laptops and senior member Taresh Sharma himself took the charge of registering the students. “We knew it was going to be a long day as we had extended the timings of camp to 4.00 PM but it gave us immense happiness to see children and parents queuing up for the vaccination,” stated a member. “While most of the children we reached out to said they have been waiting for the shots for a long time, many parents who didn’t turn up were still concerned, saying that they would wait for more kids to get vaccinated before sending theirs. If vaccination is the solution to the pandemic, we will ensure our commitment to the drive in view of personal and public health,” said Reverend Brother Jeyaseelan S, principal, St. Joseph’s Academy. He thanked the Managing Committee for regularly holding vaccination camps and said it has been getting an enthusiastic response from the parents and children. But some parents have shown reluctance and are waiting for other kids to get vaccinated. “The Omicron variant is highly transmissible which is why parents are very eager to get their teens vaccinated, especially with schools reopening. Some parents are still worried and apprehensive but they will definitely come around once more and more children get vaccinated,” said Praveen Chandhok, president of SJA Alumni Association (SJA AA). The association as they did last time shall also hold follow up camp to complete the vaccination of children. Younger kids also need to be vaccinated, said Secretary Sameer Uniyal. “India was eagerly waiting to have its younger children (below 15 years) to be vaccinated, and as soon as we got the opportunity we immediately arranged the camp. Keeping in mind that already close to two years of education has been lost, nothing can be more important than getting children of all age groups duly vaccinated and safely back to school,” said Abhinav Goel treasurer of SJA Alumni Association. “We all kids were waiting for the Covid vaccination for so long.” said Shaurya Anand student of class 8th having observed his sister and his parents, he is prepared for side effects such as fever and said it is a good sign. “Kids who fear getting the vaccination should understand that they needn’t worry about getting a fever as a side effect. Having a high temperature is a good sign. It means that our body is ready to fight the virus,” added his friend Arnav Aggarwal student of class 8th-F accompanying him was his sister Ananya Aggarwal student of class 9th-B.
