Chief Election Commissioner Takes First Dose Of Covid-19 Vaccine With Fellow Commissioners

Nearly after five days since the Covid-19 inoculation drive kickstarted at the EC headquarters in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday took their first jab of Covid-19 vaccine

Former chief election commissioner M S Gill was the first one to take the Covid-19 shot at the vaccination drive, which began at Nirvachan Sadan, the EC headquarters in Delhi, on March 4 for its officers and staff.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had recently announced that all staff on poll duty for the upcoming assembly elections have been declared as 'frontline workers' and will be vaccinated before assuming their election duties.

The vaccination would encourage the poll duty officers to perform their duty without fear of COVID-19, Arora had said.

The commission had on February 26 announced polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. It even shared the live video on its official Twitter handle.

Under the special vaccination drive, lakhs of polling officials in the five states and the union territory will be inoculated before proceeding on election duty.

Meanwhile, the second phase of Covid-19 vaccination in India commenced on 1 March, covering people over the age bracket of 60 and above. Even those above the age of 45 years who have illnesses will be eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccines from various healthcare centers.

Appointment for vaccination can be booked through the Co-WIN 2.0 portal. A mobile number cannot be used for making more than four registrations, they had said.

Those opting for vaccination at private hospitals will have to pay up to Rs 250 per dose, including Rs 100 service charge per dose

People eligible for vaccination also have to carry their photo identity cards, including Aadhaar card and voter card.

With PTI Inputs