Teachers will be vaccinated soon for reopening schools and colleges in State: Karnataka Minister

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Thursday said all teaching and non-teaching staff of the government, aided and unaided schools will be vaccinated on a priority basis as a safety measure.

In a statement, Sudhakar said schools will have to reopen sooner or later as children cannot depend on online classes forever.

"Online classes may impact the psychological health of the children. Therefore, we will have a wide consultation process before arriving at any decision. Experts' opinions will be considered for making such decisions," he said.

"School staff will be accorded priority and for vaccination. Parents and family members of the students have already been vaccinated," he added.

According to him, the vaccination coverage will cross three crore doses in a few days and many people have developed antibodies themselves.

The minister said already permission has been given to reopen Medical colleges while higher education classes will also start shortly.

He also said all the educational institutions will be reopened in a phased manner and measures will be taken to ensure the safety of children.

The matter will be discussed with the Chief Minister, he added.

According to Sudhakar, five per cent of the total cases in the state are being subjected to genomic sequencing to look for new variants as instructed by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).