New Delhi [India]:
The Union Health Ministry on Saturday in a letter to States and Union Territories (UTs) permitted family members and dependants of the personnel to be covered in the Covid vaccination drives carried out at workplaces.
Earlier, in order to boost the accessibility of Covid vaccines, the Union Health Ministry had permitted men and women above the age of 45 years to get vaccinated at public and private workplaces.
With the extension of vaccine beneficiaries to the 18-44 age group in the third phase of the vaccination drive, the guideline of opening it to family members of the personnel increases its accessibility multi-fold.
The official letter stated, “The family members and the dependants of the workers, as defined by the respective employers, can also be covered with Covid-19 vaccination at the Industrial Covid vaccination centres (CVCs) and the Workplace CVCs.”
It additional stated that, for covering these beneficiaries, the vaccine will have to be procured by the private hospitals with whom the respective employer has tied up for the vaccination.
As for Government Workplace CVC, the beneficiaries aged 45 years or more may perhaps be covered by means of the cost-free vaccine doses supplied by the Government of India to the States/UTs.
The beneficiaries in the age group of 18 to 44 years may perhaps be covered by means of the vaccine doses straight procured by the respective State/UT Government from the vaccine makers, it added.