India / Jal Board, electricity dept staff to be among 1st to get COVID-19 vaccine in Delhi

New Delhi: Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday the state government would consider employees of the electricity department and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) as front-line workers and they would be second in line, after health care workers, to receive the Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available.

"DJB and electricity department employees had worked day in and day out during the lockdown. The Delhi government has issued an order to include them in the category of frontline for vaccination, so that they also get a vaccine in the first phase," he said.

The AAP government has started the enrolment process of healthcare workers of different city hospitals and other related facilities for the vaccination programme.

Delhi has already collected information on health care workers through the hospitals and clinics they work in. The category of health care workers includes doctors, AYUSH practitioners, dentists, nurses, paramedical staff, non-medical staff in health care facilities, as well as security personnel in such facilities.

The districts already have in place data on the aged and those with comorbidities in containment areas, which was collected during the door-to-door survey. This will be updated for the vaccination drive.

As per the recommendations of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), an estimated 10 million health care workers, 20 million front-line workers, including the police and army personnel, and 270 million people, either over the age of 50 years or with comorbidities, will be the three priority groups to receive the vaccine.