Punjab gets stock of 4 lakh doses, begins vaccination at workplaces

Punjab began vaccination for all those eligible in the current phase of the immunisation drive at their workplaces after receiving fresh stock of 4 lakh Covishield doses from the Centre on Sunday.

To rapidly immunise eligible beneficiaries amid the second wave of infection, the health department launched over 100 mobile vans across all the districts, which will visit government and private workplaces with at least 50 eligible and interested beneficiaries. The Covid-19 vaccinations at private workplaces will be a paid service with the price capping of ₹250 per dose while sessions at government offices organised by district health authorities will be free of cost.

“Most of the people above the age of 45 are working in the organised sector and they were facing roblems to take a day off from their work to get vaccinated. Also, many big industries, government offices and private firms have more than 100 employees who can be vaccinated easily under one roof. As the state began anti-covid vaccination at workplace in all the districts from Sunday, the workplace authorities and owners can now consult the officials of the district health department and demand a mobile van at their place,” said Dr Rajesh Bhaskar, state nodal officer for Covid-19.

The workplace owners, both private and government, will have to submit names of at least 50 willing and eligible beneficiaries to call mobile vans at their workplaces. Any eligible employee of that workplace, even if not included in the list of 50, can avail the facility from the mobile van at his workplace. The management of the office, however, will be responsible for arranging rooms and space for inoculation.

Dr Bhaskar added, “Besides workplace, people can also call vaccination mobile vans at their residential areas if there is the required number of willing beneficiaries. In that case, a vaccination camp will be set up at a particular place in that residential area and eligible beneficiaries will be allowed to take the jab. This initiative will help shun hesitancy as people will not have to visit faraway vaccination centres or hospitals and will not need to stand in long queues.”

Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts have already started vaccinating people at their workplaces earlier this month, according to the health department.

“As the state has received fresh stock of 4 lakh doses, we can expand our vaccination drive and can achieve our target of vaccinating maximum people,” Dr Bhaskar said, adding that the state has ordered more 10 lakh doses of the vaccine from the Centre, which are expected to arrive soon.

66,585 get jabs on Day 1 of ‘Tika Utsav’

The state health department administered the first dose of vaccine to 66,585 eligible beneficiaries on Sunday, the first day of the nationwide “Tika Utsav”. Also, 2,544 people were administered a second dose of their vaccine cycle on Sunday.

Till now, the state has inoculated 16.91 lakh people of which 1.5 lakh have completed their vaccination process after taking second dose.

“We are aiming to inoculate over 2 lakh people daily. Tika Utsav and vaccination at workplaces will help us to achieve our target,” Dr Bhaskar said.