Schools for classes 1 to 9 reopen in Gujarat

The physical sessions for classes 1 to 9 were suspended on January 8 in view of the then rising COVID-19 cases in the state, but schools for classes 10 to12 and colleges were not closed.

PTI

February 07, 2022 / 12:40 IST

On Monday morning, the minister in a tweet said, "Wishing all parents and students the very best as schools reopen across the state today. We hope you enjoy your first day back in a safe atmosphere." According to the Maharashtra government, physical sessions have started for classes 5 to 12 in rural areas and for classes 8 to 12 in urban areas of the state. (Image: ANI)

Schools reopened for offline sessions for classes 1 to 9 across Gujarat on Monday in the wake of a decline in COVID-19 cases in the state. The physical sessions for classes 1 to 9 were suspended on January 8 in view of the then rising COVID-19 cases in the state, but schools for classes 10 to12 and colleges were not closed.

Gujarat on Sunday reported 3,897 new COVID-19 cases as against its all-time high peak of 24,485 on January 20 this year, as per official figures. On Monday, schools reopened across the state with students appearing happy and excited to be back to their classrooms.

They were seen wearing face masks and adhering to other COVID-19 guidelines. On Monday, schools reopened across the state with students appearing happy and excited to be back to their classrooms.

Parents were required to submit consent letters for sending their children to schools. Some schools in Surat started offline classes with "mind fresh activities" to help the students relax. Some schools in Surat started offline classes with "mind fresh activities" to help the students relax.

Students from some schools in Ahmedabad said they preferred coming to school as against the online classes, which restricted them to home and prevented from meeting their friends physically.

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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