In March last year, schools and colleges across India were shut in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
A vaccine should first be given to adults, starting with teachers, to prevent community spread of the coronavirus disease through students, the chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said responding to a query on when can Indians expect schools to reopen.
"The United Kingdom has burnt its fingers twice by opening up schools. The teachers should be the first to get vaccinated. The adults in their families also need to be vaccinated so that there is no spread," ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said on Tuesday.
The question assumes importance since only one of the two vaccines approved so far - Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin - has been tested in children.
"Some children between the age of 12 and 18 years were vaccinated in the phase 2 trial by the Bharat Biotech," he added.
Dr Bhargava also shared data of Covaxin phase 1 and 2 clinical trials which showed "very low adverse events" on volunteers which included children above the age of 12 years.
While the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has okayed testing Covaxin on those above 12 years of age in the ongoing phase 3, it has approved Covishield shots only for adults.
In Covishield phase 2 and 3 trials, 1,600 participants above 18 years of age got the shot with "safe and immunogenic response", Dr Bhargava said.
The centre has said COVID-19 vaccines will be ready for rollout in 10 days from the emergency use authorisation date based on feedback from the dry run. It plans to start the immunisation drive with country's 30 crore healthcare and frontline workers, and those above 50 years of age with co-morbidities.
In March last year, schools and colleges across India were shut in view of the coronavirus pandemic and online classes became the norm. The centre later allowed states to take a call on the matter in consultation with parents, and depending on local spread of the disease.
Many states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Assam, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, have reopened schools for senior students and institutes of higher education. However, traditional classroom learning remains out of bounds for kindergarten and primary school students.
With increased dependence on gadgets for online classes, the coronavirus pandemic hit many students from marginalised families hard with reports of children dropping out of schools, or even dying by suicide.
Despite apprehensions about reopening schools, the centre recently said board exams for classes 10 and 12 - starting May 4 - would not be conducted online since "many schools are in rural areas".