Jharkhand allows schools, colleges to reopen from February 1

Schools will reopen for all classes in 17 districts. In the rest seven districts — Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Chatra, Deoghar, Saraikela, Simdega and Bokaro — which have been reporting a higher number of COVID cases, schools will reopen for classes 9 to 12, they said.

PTI

February 01, 2022 / 06:57 IST

Schools, colleges and universities were allowed to reopen in Jharkhand from Tuesday as the COVID situation improved, officials said.
Schools will reopen for all classes in 17 districts. In the rest seven districts — Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Chatra, Deoghar, Saraikela, Simdega and Bokaro — which have been reporting a higher number of COVID cases, schools will reopen for classes 9 to 12, they said.

The decisions were taken on Monday at a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority, chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

Institutions of higher education such as colleges, universities and ITIs were also allowed to reopen, as per an official statement.

The Jharkhand government on January 3 had brought back COVID-related restrictions, shutting down all educational institutions and tourist places, and capping attendance in offices at 50 per cent.

The government also allowed gyms and swimming pools to reopen, while permitting sports events at stadiums without spectators.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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