ED: Time for school students to get vaccinated

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s announcement that the government plans to bring students aged 12 and up under the vaccination program -- the latest in a series of good moves on the government’s part -- is a milestone. After stumbling with vaccines during the start of the year, the comeback of the government in this regard has been truly commendable, and there is good reason to hope that we will soon be out of the woods. 

In that regard, the experts have spoken, and the results are in: The only way out of this pandemic is through vaccination. Yes, lockdowns might help to keep things under some degree of control for a couple of days, but it is not a sustainable solution. People cannot afford to stay locked up in their homes for months on end, especially in a country like Bangladesh.

Furthermore, school students have lost a lot due to lockdowns, and it is good to see that they are finally being brought under the fold. Schools simply cannot remain closed for years on end, and from psychological damage to children, to social ills where rural girls that are out of school are being married off, the effects of closing down our education institutions for so long are numerous and immeasurable. To solve this, the government has to open them up, and to do that safely, our children need to be vaccinated without delay.

This latest move by the PM assures us that we are on the right track. Students have suffered a tremendous amount this pandemic, and the exact toll on a whole generation remains to be seen. The least we can do at this point to minimize the damage is to keep them safe from Covid-19 using the best method out there.