The central government has asked states to start covid-19 vaccination in both public and private workplaces from April 11 for employees above 45 years of age. As a substantial proportion of population aged 45 years and above are in the organised sector of the economy and is involved in formal occupation in offices in both government and private or manufacturing and services etc, the move, government said, will increase the access of vaccine to these populations.
“In order to increase the access of vaccine to these populations, covid-19 vaccination sessions may be organized at Work Places (both public and private) which are having about 100 eligible and willing (to facilitate optimal utilization of vaccine dosage and reduce wastage) beneficiaries by tagging these work places with all existing COVID vaccination centres," Rajesh Bhushan, union health secretary said in a letter written to the states. “Please initiate due consultations with Private/Public Sector employers and management to prepare for launch of Work Place Vaccination. Such Work Place Vaccination Centres may be launched across States/UTs from 11th April 2021," said Bhushan in the letter.
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Premium Bhushan said that organizing vaccination at workplace will not only be convenient to the staff at workplaces but also help to avoid travel and hence reducing the risk of exposure to covid-19 virus.
Private industry had long been demanding vaccination of its employees. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in February had urged the government to allow companies to vaccinate employees and their immediate family members against covid-19. The industry body had said that it could benefit over 100 million workers in the formal sector and local communities. “The move will help scale up the vaccination drive which has been long standing ask by the CII health taskforce," said the CII spokesperson.
For supporting the states in the initiative, union health ministry also prepared guidelines and shared with the states. According to the guidelines, the District Task Force (DTF) chaired by District Magistrate and Urban Task Force (UTF) chaired by Municipal Commissioner will identify such government and private Workplaces after due deliberations with relevant employers and or Head of offices. Work Place management will designate one of their senior staff to work as "Nodal Officer" to coordinate with district health authorities/ private COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) and support vaccination activities, the guidelines state.
The Nodal Officer will oversee and facilitate all aspects of vaccination at Work Place CVC like registration of beneficiaries, availability of physical and IT infrastructure and oversight to vaccination etc, the guidelines said.
The government has strictly said that only employees of workplace aged 45 years or more will be eligible for vaccination at workplace, no outsiders including eligible family members will be allowed for vaccination at "CVC at Workplace".
The guidelines state that every CVC in government workplace will be tagged to an existing and nearest CVC in the government medical facility and every CVC in private workplace will be tagged to an existing and nearest CVC in the private medical facility. For optimal utilization of resources, vaccination session will be planned at workplace CVC once at least 50 beneficiaries get registered for vaccination. The schedule of vaccination session can be made up to 15 days in advance and intimated to the workplaces so that maximum attendance is ensured on the day of vaccination. In most of the work places vaccination schedule may, however, be completed in less than 15 days, the guidelines state.
Premium Premium “Beneficiaries must be registered in Co-WIN portal prior to vaccination. The CVC Nodal Officer will ensure registration of all targeted beneficiaries and facility of on-the spot registration will also be available but only to employees of the workplace, the guidelines states adding that the government and private CVCs are already linked to some cold chain point for receiving vaccine.
The Central Government on Tuesday asked all its employees aged 45 years and above to get themselves vaccinated to effectively contain the spread of covid-19. As per order issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on Tuesday, they are also advised to continue to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour even after vaccination by frequent washing of hands and sanitisation, wearing a mask or face cover and observing social distancing etc.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16th Jan 2021 with vaccination of healthcare workers (HCWs) and vaccination of the frontline workers (FLWs) started from 2nd Feb 2021.The second phase of covid-19 vaccination commenced from 1st March 2021 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions following which the third phase was rolled out from April 1st 2021 covering all persons above 45 years of age irrespective of comorbidities. The cumulative number of doses in India administered so far have neared 90 million.
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