Govt To Rope In Poll Officials For Distribution Of COVID-19 Vaccine!

New Delhi: The Central government is reportedly panning to rope in booth-level officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) for mass distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Officials from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Home and Health Ministries held a meeting recently to discuss possible modalities of vaccine distribution drives, India Today TV reported.

The booth-level officials, who have details of voters in their jurisdiction, may be given the responsibility of door-to-door vaccine distribution, sources said, adding that NITI Aayog is working on a detailed proposal which will be sent to the ECI in this regard, the report said.

NITI Aayog officials believe that roping in booth-level polling officials will make vaccine distribution easier as they will be armed with information (names, addresses, and age groups) of residents.

Notably, vaccine manufacturers including Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech are waiting for emergency use approval from the Drug Controller General India (DCGI).

Once the DCGI gives its green signal, the government will begin an exercise to inoculate the first groups of 30 crore citizens. This first batch of vaccine receivers will include nearly one crore health workers, two crore frontline workers (police, security personnel, municipal workers, and other essential service workers), and 27 crore senior citizens.