All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists on Thursday urged the government to consider the 9.4 lakh chemists and staff as being on essential duty and give them priority in Covid-19 vaccinations.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the organisation said despite their repeated appeal, the government has so far not heeded their request for priority vaccination.
If they continued to be ignored, they will have no option but join the lockdown to protest as well as save their own lives.
Notwithstanding the dangers, every chemist in the country has been continuously providing services. Dispensing and distribution of medicine is nothing less important than doctors, nurses hospital staff, and sanitisation workers, said AIOCD president JS Shinde and General Secretary Rajiv Singhal in the statement.
They claimed that since March last year more than 650 chemists and pharmacists lost their lives due to Covid infection. The chemists, pharmacists and their staff are most vulnerable to infection as they closely interact with patients at shop counters.