Polling staff must get second dose on priority, eligible for precaution dose: EC
After assessing the Covid-19 situation in the five poll-bound States, the Election Commission (EC) has asked them to accelerate the vaccination drive to ensure that all eligible citizens in their respective States are fully inoculated at the earliest. The EC has also asked to ensure that the personnel to be deployed on election duty are “double vaccinated”.
The poll panel reportedly expressed concern about the low percentage of first dose vaccination in Manipur.
According to sources, in a recent letter to the chief secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, and Punjab, the EC reminded them that polling personnel come under the category of frontline workers and are eligible for the “precaution dose” of the Covid vaccines.
The commission has said the polling personnel to be deployed in these States should be fully vaccinated and those eligible for the second dose of the vaccines should be administered the jabs on a priority basis, the sources cited the letter.
To assess the preparedness of election-bound States, an EC team headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and election commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey recently visited Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Goa and held deliberations with all stakeholders.
Several health experts have advised the Government to postpone the Assembly elections. Allahabad High Court has also urged the poll body to postpone the elections and ban rallies and public gatherings amid the Omicron scare.
After meeting with all stakeholders in Uttar Pradesh, the EC stated that all parties in Uttar Pradesh want the Assembly elections to be held as per schedule. “All the political parties, without any difference of opinion, said that elections should be conducted on time while following Covid protocol,” the EC said.
While the tenure of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly ends in May, the terms of the Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur and Punjab end on different dates in March.
In a letter to the States and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the personnel to be deployed on election duty in the poll-bound States will be included in the category of frontline workers.
The EC, along with Bhushan, assessed the Covid situation in the five States on December 27 and asked the Government to expedite the vaccination programme in these States. It had noted that the percentage of those who have received the first dose of the vaccines was still less in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur, while it was nearing 100 per cent in Uttarakhand and Goa.