Assam government has asked the Centre for Covid-19 vaccination of all officials and staffs to be engaged for Assembly elections slated in April-May in order to prevent spread of the deadly virus again.
Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that they told the Centre that vaccination of the officials to perform the election duty is necessary given the fact that Covid-19 is still active at the community level in the state.
"We have been told that healthcare workers and frontline staffs such as police will be vaccinated in the first phase. In the next phase, those above 50 years will be considered for vaccines given their vulnerability for Covid-19 infection. But we have requested the Centre that since Assam is inching closer to elections, the officials and staffs to perform the election duty should also be administered the vaccines before the elections. We are waiting for a green signal in this regard as on today," Sarma said.
Nearly 2.9 lakh healthcare workers and frontline staffs have been registered for vaccination in the initial phases while preparation was underway for vaccination of all residents in the state gradually. Vaccination of senior doctors across the state began on Saturday. Sarma hoped that all residents would be covered during the current year.
Assam reported over two lakh Covid-19 positive cases of which over 1,000 persons died. Recovery rate in the state, however, has crossed 98% in the past few weeks while the number of fresh cases have also come down significantly.
"We are receiving very less number of cases but we cannot be lenient in our safety measures in order to prevent a surge again. So we must maintain the safety measures such as wearing masks and social distance till all people are vaccinated and develop immunity against the virus," a doctor said.
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