Bengaluru: The state government is gearing up for the first combined measles-rubella vaccination drive to be held between February 7 and 28 despite opposition from some private school managements.
The vaccination will be compulsorily administered first in government schools and anganwadis to children aged below 15. Later, it would be taken up in aided and private schools. The State has recorded 30,282 cases of measles.
Health and Family Welfare Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar and Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanvir Sait said the vaccine would be administered to 1.65 crore children aged between 9 months and 15. Mr. Kumar and Mr. Sait said that some schools had expressed their opposition to the drive. “Legal action will be inevitable if private schools prevent the drive,” Minister Ramesh Kumar said.
Every school would have a nodal officer for the smooth conduct of the campaign. Awareness would be created among children and parents about the necessity of vaccination. Schools have been told to prepare a list of students aged below 15 on their rolls. They have been asked to identify a nodal officer, assign a teacher for each section, and conduct orientation programme for the staff. “Children might develop fever and omitting symptoms after the administration of the vaccine. It would be administered in the presence of doctors,” Minister Sait added.
