Centre asks civil defence, fire services, home guards to prepare list of personnel for Covid vaccination

Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Thursday held a meeting with police chiefs of all the states and union territories, Civil Defence, home guards and fire services to discuss the preparation of database of personnel who would be in line to for Covid-19 vaccination after the prioritised groups, people familiar with the development said.

The meeting, they said, was follow up of a meeting chaired by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba last week, in which he had asked states and union territories to prepare the database of priotorised groups such as health workers, the elderly and patients with comorbidities among others who will receive the Covid-19 vaccine during initial stages.

It was decided in the meeting that the ministry of home affairs (MHA), in consultation with the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), health ministry and states/UTs will decide the definition of frontline workers.

Police/security personnel are also engaged in various Covid-19 related duties and government is considering vaccinating them after health workers, patients with co-morbidities and the elderly.

Senior officials in ministry of home affairs (MHA) said the home secretary has asked police forces, fire services, home guard and Civil Defence to prepare the list of personnel from their respective departments who are deployed in Covid-19 frontline duties.

They said that the central paramilitary forces were asked for such a list in respective forces in a separate meeting recently.

According to MHA officials cited above, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) or central paramilitary forces – including Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibet Police Force (ITBP), (Central Industrial Security Force), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) will play a key role in the vaccination.

The series of meetings on vaccination drive have accelerated after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to three facilities in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune to review the development and manufacturing process of Covid-19 vaccines.

Three vaccine candidates, including that of Pfizer, Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, have applied for emergency use authorization.