Covid vaccination: Odisha urges Centre to consider Journalists as FLWs

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government today requested the Health and Family Welfare Ministry to categorise Journalists and personnel of print and electronic media as Front Line Workers (FLWs) for Covid-19 vaccination.

In a letter to MoHFW Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Additional Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department, PK Mohapatra urged him to consider inclusion of additional groups of people as front line workers for inoculation due to the nature of their work.

He also requested to add staff engaged in maintenance of essential services like electricity and water supply and employees engaged at airports, railways and sea ports in the FLW category.

Sevayats or priests of Lord Jagannatha Temple in Puri and Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar should be considered for inclusion in the FLW category as well, Mohapatra stated.

He mentioned in the letter that many categories of persons who are at risk of exposure to infection due to the nature of their work have not been included as FLWs.

Worth mentioning, officials from different departments who were engaged for Covid-19 surveillance and containment measures at the State and district -level have been considered as Front Line workers in Odisha since February 2021.