Bhubaneswar: In an aim to ensure study of students in foreign countries don’t disrupt due to Covid-19, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) started vaccination of students going abroad for higher studies.
While 83 students are enlisted after verification of the necessary documents, 19 have already administered the Covishield doses at two designated centres so far. The two Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) opened at PN College, Khurda and CMC Kalyan Mandap at Gopalpur near Cuttack for this purpose. Others will be covered within a day or two, official sources in the BMC said here on Sunday.
Though the Temple City is administering Covaxin to its citizens, the special arrangement is made only to help the foreign-going students for higher studies so that Covishield is made available for the students, the official said.
In fact, Cuttack and Khurda districts are originally having Covishield doses as per the vaccine management protocol of the State Government.
While the foreign bound students for higher studies in the age group of 18-44 were advised to make their requests through 1929 Call Centre at the Bhubaneswar Operations Centre (BOC), they were also requested to keep ready documents like confirmation letter of admission from foreign universities and their valid ID proof for the vaccination process.
Authorities of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited inside the BOC also designated a special desk for the document verification and listing of the students, who applied for the protection shield before they take up their foreign trip.
Debashish Dash of Kalinga Vihar, Patrapada, who is planning to join the International School of Medicine (ISM) at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, took the Covishield vaccination at PN College, Khurda on day before yesterday.
“BMC has given a wonderful opportunity to the foreign university bound students and it’s a wonderful help. At a time when students became worried over the vaccination slots this programme for them has come as a pathfinder,’’ Dash said.
Shawan Kumar of Khandagiri area in the city, who plans to join the Saiberian State Medical University at Tomsk city, is a happy person today as he received his Covishield jab recently.
“I was affected by COVID recently and after recovery was wondering about the vaccination process as the admission date is also approaching. However, BMC’s special arrangement for the students has come as a breather for me and now I will be confidently travelling to Siberia for my medical studies,” said Shawan.
Similarly, Rishav Chand, a resident of Saheed Nagar, who wanted to go to Saskatoon, a city in Canada on a work permit visa after studying in University of Saskatoon doing Masters in Chemical Engineering, said, “The initiative is extremely useful for students as the Covishield vaccine will help them to have a confidence building measure before they step into the foreign soil.’’
A B Tech graduate from NIT Rourkela, Chand, who had special interests in subjects like Petrochemical and bio-fuel engineering during his undergraduate studies before joining University of Saskatoon, said, “The pro-youth and students action by the civic body is an interesting step towards empowering the beneficiaries to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.’’
Another young graduate, Suchismita Mohapatra from Palm Heights near SUM Hospital, who is planning to join Kharkiv National Medical University at Kharkov, the second biggest city in Ukraine, is happy as she has received her first dose of Covishield.
“I booked my slot through the 1929 Call Centre and am really grateful to the authorities for doing all the needful in a short time. It’s a very constructive step as it would help many students going abroad,’’ she stated.
Urmila Pradhan of Unit 4 Postal Colony is a Third-Year student of Vinnitsa National Medical University in Ukraine who was on her vacation at home and also took the jab.