Students’ Canada dreams and Covaxin conundrum

FOREIGN DEGREES OF UNCERTAINTY

Students’ Canada dreams and Covaxin conundrum

Bharat.Yagnik@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:26.06.2021 

Rajesh Ashara, a resident of Ankleshwar, had to thrice defer his plans for Toronto, Canada to pursue a masters’ degree in environmental engineering due to air travel restrictions imposed amid Covid-19 pandemic.

He has managed to book his ticket for this weekend by taking a longer route. His troubles however do not seem to end here. The reason being that he has been vaccinated with Covaxin, the anti-Covid-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech which is yet to get approval from the World Health Organization (WHO).

As a result, most countries including Canada treat those administered with Covaxin as ‘non-vaccinated’.

“I have booked hotels in Canada where I will be staying for 14 days as part of my quarantine period. For those who have taken two doses of WHO-approved vaccines, the quarantine rules are not applicable,” said Ashara.

He is more worried about following another rule that may require receiving another vaccine, approved in that country.

“I do not wish to risk my health by taking yet another dose of vaccine and that too of a different make. I am not sure of the health hazards associated with such a decision,” said Ashara.

Ankit Mistry, a visa consultant based out of Ahmedabad, says he has been receiving 40-50 inquiries on a daily basis about students planning to go overseas and their concerns regarding vaccination.

“I am flooded with all sorts of queries about which vaccination to be taken and which should be avoided. We are also asked if a ‘mix and match’ of vaccines can be taken. We tell them to consult doctors and medical experts. A majority of these queries are from students planning to go to Canada,” said Mistry.

The cost of quarantining in Canada can vary from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh depending on the hotel and city.

Earlier there were three connecting flight routes apart from the direct flights. They included via Muscat and Ethiopia and another one via Russia and Siberia for reaching Canada. Presently, students prefer to go Canada via Frankfurt and Mexico as the other two routes are closed for now.

Dhruvi Patel is keeping her fingers crossed for the direct flights connecting Ahmedabad and Toronto to reopen. She has got her student visa to pursue BSc with biology as the main subject at a university in Canada. Patel has taken two doses of Covaxin and hopes that the prevailing confusion about vaccination ends by the time she takes a flight to Canada.