18-45 age group: Construction workers will be jabbed first

Ludhiana: Residents between 18 and 45 years of age will have to wait more for getting themselves vaccinated as first the construction workers in this age group will get immunised in the drive starting from Monday. The labour department has shared a list of such workers with the health department for the vaccination programme.
District immunisation officer (DIO) Dr Puneet Juneja said as per the guidelines of the state government, construction workers would be the first among the public in the 18-45 age group to be vaccinated in the drive. He said they have already got the doses for them and these would be separate from those for other age groups of 45-59 years and 60-plus, whose vaccination would continue at government health setups. The immunisation of construction workers will be done at cluster sites and the labour department has been informed about the process, he said.
The DIO said they have no idea when the vaccination of other persons in the 18-45 age group would start and things would become clear after they receive further guidelines. The health department officials said of the 1,00,000 doses for vaccination of workers in the state, 16,818 have been provided to Ludhiana district, which is the highest.
The labour department, meanwhile, said 25,000 construction workers have been registered for immunisation in the district. Assistant labour commissioner Baljeet Singh said these workers work at construction sites and in villages as well and their lists have been provided to the health department. He added that the list also included migrant workers.
The officer said at construction sites, vaccination camps could be held at flats or show homes and workers won’t have to go to different facilities. The vaccination process was a joint venture and various departments were involved in it, including GLADA, PWD, irrigation, health and labour departments, so that 100% construction workers get the jab, he added.
Health experts said more persons getting vaccinated would help in containing the virus spread. “It is good that they are vaccinating the workers. However, we were hoping that vaccination for everyone in the 18-45 age group will start soon. The government should make arrangements for speedy vaccination and in fact start door-to-door immunisation,” said Dr Sunil Katyal, former president of the Ludhiana IMA.
Many persons in the 18-45 age group are disappointed. “We thought they will start immunisation for all, but this wait has become frustrating for us,” said Harpreet Singh, a 40-year-old local resident.