The consent of parents is no longer required for the COVID-19 vaccination of students aged 12 years or above all over the province, Chief Secretary Sindh has announced.
In this regard, the provincial Home Ministry has communicated these directives of the School Education and Literacy Department in an official letter titled “vaccination of all school-going children above the age of 12 years.”
These directives are a part of the provincial government’s efforts to ramp up the COVID-19 vaccination drive across the province and they come into effect immediately.
According to the official letter, the Chief Secretary has waived off the requirement of parental consent that was needed earlier to vaccinate school-going children aged 12 or above against Coronavirus.
Field officers of the Health Ministry have been told to ensure complete compliance with the latest directives issued by the provincial Chief Secretary.
On 6 September, the Sindh government launched a vaccination campaign to vaccinate all students aged 12 or above against Coronavirus amid a sharp rise in the COVID-19 cases across the province.
The Health Ministry also formed 2,500 specialized teams and tasked them with making necessary arrangements for COVID-19 vaccination in educational institutes.
All educational institutes at the district level are being covered in the initial phase of the campaign. The campaign will be extended to the sub-division level in the next phase.
The Sindh government had earlier declared parental consent as mandatory to vaccinate students aged 12 or above, which impeded the vaccination drive from achieving its goal as many parents refused to sign the consent form.
This is what prompted the Sindh government to withdraw the requirement of parental consent for vaccinating students in educational institutions all over the province.
