Will close medicine stores if not acknowledged as COVID Warriors: Chemists’ association

Khordha: Chemists of Khordha district today warned that they would down their shutters in coming days if the state Government does not acknowledge them as COVID Warriors and vaccinate them on priority basis.

At a presser, the Khordha District Chemists and Druggists Association President Pragati Mohanty said medicine retailers have always been on the frontline proving seamless services to public, be it lockdown or shutdown. Over a hundred chemists and staff of medicine stores had succumbed to COVID-19 in the state in the first wave of the pandemic. 

The chemists have been demanding COVID Warrior status for them since last year, but the state Government has not even given any kind of assurance in this regard, Mohanty lamented.

“As the situation has worsened in the second wave, the state Government should recognize us as COVID Warriors and vaccinate us on priority basis,” she added.

The association warned that around 20,000 medicine stores in the state will shut their operation if the Government dose not take any favourable decision in this regard within next 15 days.