While healthcare workers were inoculated in the first phase of the covid vaccination drive, pharmacists and chemists were not despite being on the frontline. With vaccinations started for people aged 18+ as well after the 45+ group, pharmacists are threatening to shut shops if they aren’t vaccinated on priority.
The Telangana Chemists and Druggists Association requested the KCR government to inoculate pharmacists as the consequences of not doing so would be closed medical shops. 25,000 members of the association will shut all business, it said. The association reasoned that chemists have been serving people, including covid positive patients, selling medicines despite the grave risk posed to them in the pandemic.
None of these people (staff, attendants at shop counters, etc) was included in the high-risk group for vaccination even after being so vulnerable to the infection. Their close interaction and meeting with people of all kind have put them at much greater risk, it said.
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Sri Ch. Janardhan Rao, President of The Telangana Chemists & Druggists Association (TTCDA) said in a statement that chemists’ role is not any less important than doctors’, nurses’, sanitization workers’ and other hospital staff. He said they are serving humanity but aren’t being valued for their services.
“It is logical & moral to vaccinate frontline workers but despite repeated appeals chemists were sidelined for no reason. But now we do not want to put our members at risk and therefore we demand vaccination on priority for all chemists/pharmacists and the support staff. Otherwise, all the chemists will have to join regular lockdown as per the call of AIOCD followed by other trade members,” the president said.
With over 650 chemists and druggists fallen prey to the deadly virus since March 2020, The All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) raised the same demand.
Acting general secretary of the association, P Krishna Kumar said, “Injections like remdesivir or tocilizumab were taken under its control by the government, routed through our members but drugs were not made available for our members.”
Meanwhile, according to the latest decisions come from the state government, people coming under the high-risk groups, those who remain in constant contact with the public will be vaccinated.
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The categories will cover 7.55 lakh people who will be inoculated as part of a special drive. The people falling under this list will include petrol station staff, fair price shop dealers, LPG cylinder delivery men, flower, fruit and vegetable market vendors, fish and meat market vendors, cab and auto-rickshaw drivers and liquor shop vendors as well.
The people included in this list will be vaccinated on May 28th and 29th, the government said on Wednesday. 20,000 state government accredited journalists will also be vaccinated as a part of this group, they announced.
As for the extension or lifting of the lockdown, a review meeting is slated for May 30th when CM KCR will make a decision. Other matters like paddy procurement, curbing the supply of spurious seeds, agriculture, availability of seeds and fertilizers, etc. are also going to be discussed in the state cabinet meeting.
