With India gearing up to begin the world’s biggest vaccination drive from January 16, Telugu Film Producers Council has demanded that the film industry be included in the category of frontline workers, who are going to receive the COVID vaccine in the first phase of the drive.
Producers Council requests Government’s to include Film Industry in the category of front line workers for the COVID Vaccination to enable continuation of shootings!. pic.twitter.com/IucJTFOg6P
— AndhraBoxOffice.Com (@AndhraBoxOffice) January 12, 2021
The Telugu Film Producers Council has in a press note dated January 12, 2021, asked PM Narendra Modi, the respective CMs of Telangana and Andhara Pradesh and the health ministers to consider adding the actors and the various technicians working in the Telugu film industry in the priority list of the inoculation drive against the COVID-19 outbreak.
The council has argued that the people of the industry, through which both the central and the state government receives good revenue, are exposed to similar hazardous as maybe any frontline or healthcare worker is. They are prone to get COVID-19 as shooting takes place at different locations with different artists and technicians. Despite taking all necessary precautions, these people get affected by the pathogen and as a result shooting is stalled and the movies are shelved causing a major revenue loss to the film producers.
Owing to the financial losses, the council has demanded that the film industry and its workers are included in the category of frontline and healthcare workers.
COVID-19 inoculation drive in India to begin on January 16, vaccine will be free for 3 crore frontline and healthcare workers
The Modi Government is all set to start the much-awaited nationwide COVID-19 inoculation drive from January 16. The vaccination will start after the forthcoming festivals across the country including Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Magh Bihu etc.
The PM said that priority will be given to doctors, healthcare workers, frontline workers including Safai Karamcharis in providing the vaccines. It is estimated that initially around 3 crore frontline workers will receive the vaccine. After that, people above 50 years of age, and people below 50 with co-morbidities, estimated around 27 crore, will be selected for vaccination.
Two vaccines have been granted Emergency Use Authorisation or Accelerated Approval by the authorities in India. They are, Covishield developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech.