Vaccination drive: Private security guards feel left out

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 20

Although the ambit of Covid vaccination has been expanded by the district administration to include people from different fields, security guards working under different private agencies are feeling left out.

Security guards at ATMs, malls, private institutes and educational institutes rue that despite serving the society nobody is bothered about their safety.

“We are here on duty every day and even during the lockdown we were regularly on duty and the PAU was also a quarantine centre for NRIs. We are working on contract and wonder who will take care of our vaccination,” said one of the security guards at the PAU.

Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, VC, PAU, said some security guards at the PAU are permanent, others are working on contract. Entire staff of the PAU can get themselves vaccinated. Awareness activities will be intensified to spread the message further,” he said.

Jagdish (54), who works for a security agency, said, “I work at an office from 9am to 5pm and meet several people during the day. I do not come under any category for getting vaccinated. Security guards should be included in frontline workers,” he said.

Assa Singh, a security guard at an ATM, said when I sought information about the vaccine, bank officials told me that the security agency is responsible for my vaccination.

Similarly, a 35-year-old security guard at a local mall, said “I check hundreds the visitors daily but I have not received the vaccine. My security agency asks us to follow safety guidelines but say they cannot get our vaccination done.”

A representative of a security service agency from the Jalandhar bypass said they regularly sensitise their employees about following safety protocols and provide them masks and sanitisers but vaccination has not been done. “Those who come under the ambit have get it done on their own. Ideally, all security guards should be vaccinated and considered as frontline workers,” she said.

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“Ideally, security guards should have been included under the frontline workers. Those above 60 years or with comorbidities can get the vaccination done while others can show their identity card and get the vaccination done and we will not be saying ‘no’ to genuine cases. We will not be stringent and as security guards come in contact with so many people. We will be approaching a lenient view and those in need of vaccination will be given the vaccine.”