Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Delhi government would write to the Centre seeking priority COVID-19 vaccination for journalists.
The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), a group of doctors from leading government hospitals from across the country, also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting that journalists from both television and print media be vaccinated given their front-line worker status.
“Journalists are reporting from most adverse situations. They shud be treated as frontline workers and shud be allowed vaccination on priority. Delhi govt is writing to centre in this regard [sic.],” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted.
FAIMA, terming lack of priority vaccination for journalists a “major issue”, stated that they were putting their health and lives at risk while covering both the COVID-19 pandemic and matters “critical” to both the public and democracy per se on a daily basis.
“Journalists cannot work from home, and have put their health and lives at risk on a daily basis to cover both the COVID-19 pandemic and other matters of public concern, including matters critical to the health and safety of the public and critical to our democracy,” FAIMA stated.
“While others have the option to walk away from large crowds, or to avoid members of the public that don’t follow ICMR health guidelines, these journalists repeatedly put their own safety at risk to document what is occurring and inform their communities, large and small,” it also stated.
Doctors had, the Association stated, seen journalists become infected, hospitalised and succumbing to COVID-19 since the pandemic struck.
So, they said, they requested both the Centre and the State governments to treat journalists as front-line workers and prioritise their vaccination.
