Covid-19 vaccination among students in Arakan State continues

21 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
21 June 2022, Sittwe

More than 71 percent of basic education students had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination as of June 19, according to the Arakan State Education Office.

The department has been giving shots since June 2, and 71.52 percent of students had gotten their first jab by June 19. Students are given Covid-19 vaccination shots with the approval of their parents, and no parents have so far voiced disapproval, according to Assistant Director U Aung Kyaw Nyein of the Arakan State Education Office.

“We are giving Covid-19 vaccination shots to children aged from 5 to 12 with the approval of their parents. So far, no one has rejected receiving the vaccine,” he said, adding that the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine was administered to them.

There are 320,087 registered students in the 5-12 age group across Arakan State’s 17 townships, and 236,536 students have so far received Covid-19 vaccination shots, according to the state’s Education Office.

Ko Aung Kyi Moe, one student’s father from Sittwe, said: “My children have been given their first dose since the day schools were opened on June 2. They asked if I would allow my children to receive Covid-19 shots, and I said OK. There is nothing to worry about.”

Students will receive their second dose 28 days after they received the first, according to Dr. Than Naing Soe of the Ministry of Health.

Some 80,000 students in Arakan State have yet to receive the vaccine, and most of them are from schools in remote areas, according to the state Education Office.