A number of companies either individually or through industry bodies in Telangana are exploring prospects of how soon can they get their workforce and families vaccinated against COVID-19.
From small, medium and large-sized firms across sectors, be it manufacturing, information technology, banking and even trade and service providers, many are looking to secure vaccine for their employees. There is a growing interest among companies ever since the Centre permitted vaccination of those above 18 years of age, sources in the know said.
Though a big task given the inadequate availability of vaccines, something that is delaying the second dose for many above 45 years, inoculation of employees and families is something several companies are keen to get done. Besides from an employee welfare perspective, such a move is a measure towards ensuring continuity in operations. Some companies are also keen on undertaking vaccination of the local community, around their facility, as a corporate social responsibility activity, sources in Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said.
For now, CII Telangana as part of a nationwide initiative of the industry body is reaching out to companies in the State desirous of getting employees and families vaccinated and also initiated discussions with hospitals on various aspects pertaining to the vaccines. “We are assessing the demand... all over India, we have received requests for more than 7.15 lakh doses from 700 companies. In Telangana, 30 of the 300 companies to whom mails were sent have registered,” a CII official said, many of the firms with headquarters elsewhere would have placed requests with other CII offices.
The prevailing supply side constraints, however, is bound to make the process time consuming for the target segment to get the vaccines. It is a cause of concern for not just the companies, but bank employees as well as many in trade such as petrol bunk dealers and LPG distributors.
R.Sravan S. Rao, Executive Director and State Head of Indian Oil Corporation for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh said the oil company at the national level was in discussions to get vaccines for not only IOC employees, their family members, but also the contractual workers.
Chair, Healthcare and Disaster Management of the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry Shekar Agarwal says FTCCI is “trying to tie up with a few hospitals for our members, their staff and families to get vaccinated.” Given the shortage of vaccine, it has also advised the members to continue with their efforts in getting the antidote.
The earlier the better is something Telangana Convenor of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) R. Sriram emphasised as regards the vaccination, pointing out that an estimated 8,000 bank employees have been infected and 18 died due to COVID-19 complications. The State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) had recently written to the State government, he said, adding the Centre’s Department of Financial Services had also stressed on priority in vaccination for bank employees.
