Pooja Banerjee: Even in the acting fraternity, old people should get the vaccine first

Actor Pooja Banerjee talks about the vaccination drive, and juggling work with her personal emergency amid the Covid-19 crisis.

When her show’s shoot was shifted from Mumbai to Goa, owing to the restrictions, Pooja Banerjee requested the makers to push her scenes a bit, and the reason for that is the many things she had to juggle.

Actor Pooja Bannerjee says that a lot of people are struggling to get the Covid vaccine.

“I was planning to travel for the shoot but there was a family emergency, so I told them to shift my scenes. Some people have the luxury of working from home, we don’t. People like us have to be on the job scene. Anybody who doesn’t have that luxury will eventually go out. Then again, everyone is not fortunate enough to actually afford to have a bio bubble, where there are no outsiders,” she says.

The 29-year-old, who has been a part of shows such as Kasautii Zindagi Kay, adds that she had to first drive down from Mumbai to Nagpur to tackle the situation at home.

“I left in a haste, and told the makers to give me some time. I booked a flight in such a way that it was within just hours of reaching home. I planned to go to our show’s set in Mumbai to pick up my extensions and makeup, as nobody enters my makeup room. Then I would drive back to home, and immediately after that the airport,” she shares.

While it was quite hectic for the actor, she adds, “I was really making an effort. After doing so much, then I got the RT-PCR test done before boarding the flight. I was carrying my sanitiser and not removing the mask. We need to be taking care of ourselves [while working, too]. You can’t be working like an idiot, you have to put your feet down when you think it’s not according to the advisory board’s precautions.”

As vaccinations will begin for all above 18 from May 1, Banerjee feels even then, the older age group should get preference.

“A lot of people out there are struggling to get vaccines. I see that even in the acting fraternity, so old people should get it first. We will get it, koi na nahi bolne wala, so we should wait. The older set of people needs it first,”she ends.