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UK to offer Covid-19 vaccine for free to international students
Indian students in the UK will be able to access the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that is being rolled out across the country.Minister of State for Universities at the Department of Education, UK, Michelle Donelan in an open letter to the international students pursuing studies in the UK promised to give Covid-19 vaccine free of charge to them. According to a statement issued by Study Group, the minister has confirmed that foreign students will not be charged for testing or Covid treatment in the UK.
The news is particularly welcomed as the UK has confirmed the emergence of a new strain of the virus, which is spreading at a higher rate. The UK has also confirmed that it has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine overall, enough to immunise upto one-third of the population. And, the approval of the Oxford vaccine is expected to come within days.
The UK government has now secured early access to over 357 million vaccine doses through several vaccine developers. This will enable international students to access these vaccinations, just as they can access NHS healthcare. This provision includes mature students or those with underlying medical conditions.
Speaking about the vaccine announcement, James Pitman, Managing Director - UK & EU, Study Group said, “We are anticipating some positivity for the forthcoming academic year and would like to take this opportunity to thank our students for showing patience throughout the global pandemic. This vaccine, combined with effective treatments, will be significant in making Covid-19 a manageable disease, thereby allowing us to return to normality soon, so that, going-forward, we can welcome a greater number of Indian students to the UK.”
The UK remains a top choice for international students, with thousands of ambitious students choosing to pursue their qualification in one of the many world-class UK universities. According to 2018/2019 statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), there are currently 485,645 international students pursuing their degree in the UK. In the wake of the global pandemic and locked international borders, UK universities and their International Study Centres have been offering blended learning to students this year, which is a mix of face-to-face and virtual teacher-led learning.