Should NEET 2021 Candidates be Given Priority on COVID-19 Vaccination

Why it is necessary to vaccinate

While there are several reasons why NEET candidates should be vaccinated at the earliest, some of the top reasons are as follows:

Candidates exposed to a higher risk of infection: NEET 2021 takers run a high risk of contracting coronavirus since they will come in contact with fellow candidates and exam centre officials. Most of the candidates will have to travel long distance for appearing in the exam. Hence, being vaccinated will prevent them from being infected with the COVID-19 or its variants.

Vaccination can prevent candidates from spreading the virus: As mentioned in the above point, students will come in contact with a vast number of people at the NEET test centre and transport, they not only become exposed to contracting the virus but are at equal risk of spreading it to others. As per studies, being vaccinated helps prevent them from spreading it further.

Relieve stress among candidates: Along with the stress and anxiety related to preparation, exam dates and its conduct, one of the major factor of stress is the ongoing pandemic. If candidates are vaccinated on priority, they will be relieved of the tension of being infected by coronavirus prior to the exam, or during the exam.

Vaccination for 12-18 Age Group to Start Soon

While initially vaccinating the students seemed to be a daunting task and was not considered feasible, now things have started looking positive. The Centre has recently informed the Supreme Court that the clinical trials of Zydus Cadila’s COVID-19 vaccine for the age group of 12 to 18 years have been completed. It is expected that the vaccination drive for children belonging to this age group will start soon.

The Centre also informed that the Drugs Controller General of India permitted Bharat Biotech to conduct clinical trials of its vaccine Covaxin on volunteers between 2 to 18 years of age, and the enrollment process for this trial has also begun.

Even in the fourth week of June, NTA has not yet released the NEET 2021 application process, neither it has cleared the air on whether NEET 2021 will be postponed or not. Given the present scenario and the fact that just a month is left for the scheduled exam date and the application process has not started yet, the chance of NEET 2021 getting postponed to September or October is high. Approximately 16 lakh candidates are expected to appear for the exam.