Bhubaneswar: The Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) department Tuesday asked all the left out health workers and frontline workers to take Covid vaccine within the timeline set by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
In a letter to all the district Collectors and district magistrates and commissioners of all municipal corporations, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) PK Mahapatra said that over 85 per cent of healthcare workers have been vaccinated in Odisha. The state secures third position in the country in terms of vaccination of healthcare workers and frontline workers said the letter.
“However, it has come to notice that despite repeated instructions, a few registered health workers and frontline workers have not taken the first dose of Covid vaccine. The state has claimed Covid vaccine doses from the Centre as per the number of health workers and frontline workers registered for vaccination. If we do not utilise the vaccines allocated to us, we will be missing out on the critical opportunity to fight the pandemic. Further, those health workers and frontline workers who remain unvaccinated will put the community in danger,” added the letter.
The letter further said, “In view of this, we hereby direct the healthcare workers and frontline workers, who have been registered for vaccination and now willfully refusing the vaccination, will henceforth cease to enjoy the privileges granted by the government in case of Covid-19 infection.”
The department directed all the Collectors and commissioners of all municipal corporations to publish the direction and take steps to ensure that all healthcare and frontline workers are inoculated.
Notably, the state government had begun vaccination of health workers and frontline workers January 16.