We are pleased to hear that students of public and private universities are going to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on a priority basis, once they are available. According to a report published by this daily on June 1, the government will be getting 1.5 crore shots of vaccine from China throughout June, July and August—50 lakh each month—and is also in the final stages of procuring Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. These acquisitions, we hope, will re-energise the government's vaccination campaign, which has been stalling of late due to the dire situation in India preventing the Serum Institute from supplying the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh.

The government's plan to vaccinate university students on a priority basis is a good one. It has been more than a year since universities were closed—on March 17, 2020—and we sympathise with the students who have gone through all that time in great uncertainty. The mental stress of not knowing when their regular academic activities will resume again, when they will graduate, etc. must be taking a heavy toll on them. And many students may not even be able to cope with such circumstances for too long financially—as they may have certain responsibilities towards their families or are in situations where they have to support themselves.

Moreover, the learning loss that students have had to incur is incomprehensible. And as experts have said, the cost of that loss to the nation will be massive in the long-run. Therefore, getting university students back in their classrooms and into their academic activities should be one of the government's topmost priorities. Hopefully, once the students are vaccinated, universities will finally be able to reopen and academic activities can resume.

In that regard, the government must do everything to support students in continuing with their studies. And although vaccinating them is a good first step, there are other issues involved here that the government must be careful about. For instance, the government must ensure that all the measures associated with acquiring the vaccines and inoculating the students are done correctly. Even with the vaccines, the basic health guidelines have to be followed. Also, university teachers and other staff, too, will have to be vaccinated before universities can be reopened safely.