No benefits if healthcare workers, frontline workers refuse COVID vaccine, Odisha govt warns

BHUBANESWAR: Healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) refusing to get jabbed with the COVID-19 vaccine will cease to enjoy the privileges granted by the State government if they get infected with the coronavirus.

The Odisha government on Tuesday warned that the enrolled beneficiaries, who are willfully avoiding vaccination without any genuine ground, will not get free treatment, financial and other benefits in case of death. In a letter to Collectors and Municipal Commissioners, Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said the State government raised the demand for vaccines only after the HCWs and FLWs got themselves enrolled for vaccination. But it has come to the notice that despite repeated instructions, many registered healthcare and frontline workers have not taken the first dose of Covid-19 vaccination, he said. 

“If we don’t fully utilise the vaccines allotted to us, we will be missing out on a critical opportunity to fight the pandemic. The HCWs and FLWs, who remained unvaccinated, put both their community and workplaces at risk of transmission,” Mohapatra maintained.