Pune:
Maharashtra health minister
Rajesh Tope has said that no
politician or influential person would be entertained as a priority recipient to get the first shots of the
Covid-19 vaccine.
The health minister’s comment comes in the wake of complaints from some bureaucrats about pressure from some influential politicians and senior police officers for their inclu-sion among the first recipients of the vaccine.
“I have, however, not received any such complaint. I have sent a message to all district authorities to directly reach out to me if they get such requests,” the minister told TOI on Wednesday. “The government is preparing the list of frontline workers and only they will get the first shots. The final list should be ready by next week,” he said. A senior official in Pune said some politicians were regularly in touch for updates on
vaccine trials, but no one has so far volunteered to be a candidate for the trials.