Two Class XI students of Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ High School on Lord Sinha Road in the central business district were among the 118 who got the first dose of Covid vaccine on the school premises on Monday. They shared their experience...
Public transport springs a shock
Ankana Laskar from Akra in South 24-Parganas
I was given a slot from 10am to 11am to receive the first dose after I registered on the CoWin portal.
We don’t have a bike. Hiring an app cab to cover a distance of over 14km would be a costly proposition. So I, along with my mother, boarded a suburban train from Akra station, hoping that the occupancy would be half as Bengal government announced on Sunday that local trains would operate with 50 per cent capacity.
To my shock, I found that the train was packed with passengers throwing physical distancing norms to the wind — the usual sight.
After reaching Tollygunge, I found that Metro was running to the packed capacity as well. We let go one train and boarded a less-crowded one to get off at Rabindra Sadan.
At school, students of each batch comprising 10 to 15 were asked to wait in a spacious room maintaining physical distancing norms before being called for vaccination one by one. The parents were waiting in separate rooms.
Hope for exams without worry
Sridita Mondal from Baltikuri in Howrah
My father dropped me to the school on a two-wheeler. Buses are usually overcrowded on my route and therefore, I usually avoid it. Ever since the school resumed in-person classes from mid November, my father has been taking me to the school on his two-wheeler.
A private operator used to run a pool bus service from our area to the school before the pandemic had set in. But now with lesser number of students and rising fuel prices, he does not find the business viable. So in absence of the bus service, my father has been covering a distance of over 13km to take me to the school.
He is a businessman by profession and the journey to and from the school eats into his time. But since affording a cab is a more costly proposition, we are left with this choice only.
I was given a slot from 10am to 11am after I registered on the CoWin portal. Upon reaching the school, the vaccination was done following the physical distancing norms. We, the students of Class XI, are supposed to write the annual examination in April on the school premises. So if we get fully vaccinated by then, we can appear the exams without any worries.
