Vaccination at 59 sites, 5,900 to get jab today in Punjab

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Patiala, January 15

As the state kickstarts the process of vaccinating 5,900 frontline health workers at 59 designated sites across the state on the first day tomorrow, CM Capt Amarinder Singh today wrote to PM Narendra Modi seeking free vaccine for the poor.

Punjab has received 2,04,500 doses of Covishield vaccine. Each vaccination centre will cater to a maximum of 100 beneficiaries per day, according to the health department.

State nodal officer Dr Rajesh Bhasker said all preparations had already been made in all districts. “The priority is to vaccinate the health workers who are working at the isolation centres. All the glitches, which had been reported on the CoWin portal, have been fixed,” he said.

However, sources claim the messages sent from CoWin have failed to reach the beneficiaries and now the vaccination centre heads have been asked to telephonically inform them.

On reports suggesting that the CM would get the first shot, Bhasker said there was no scheduled programme of either the CM or the Health Minister getting the vaccine on the first day. “The CM will only kick off the vaccination campaign from an online platform from Mohali,” he said.

The Bathinda health department has received 12,430 doses and the drive will start at three locations.

Let ministers have it first: Asha workers

• The Asha Workers’ Union on Friday said they did not want to get vaccinated in the first phase
• Union state president Kirandeep Kaur Panjola said they had decided that nearly 26,000 Asha workers and facilitators from across the state would not get any vaccine in the first phase
• She said as per the decision of the government, the first persons to be vaccinated were the CM, ministers, district-level civil surgeons and other higher officials
• “Asha workers fall under the lowest category and the experiment of the vaccination should not be conducted on them,” she said
• She warned that pressure tactics should not be used to persuade Asha workers and facilitators for vaccination