Sex workers, jail-inmates among likely ‘super-spreaders’ to be vaccinated by Bengal govt

West Bengal has already vaccinated 7,583 transport workers, journalists and hawkers till date since vaccination for the age group of 18-44 years began in the state earlier this week.

The West Bengal government has identified 10 target groups, including sex workers, jail inmates, hawkers and transport workers who could be Covid-19 ‘super-spreaders’ and will be vaccinated to check the spread of the virus in the state.

Beneficiaries wait in a queue to receive their Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Bolpur in Birbhum district on Saturday. (PTI PHOTO.)

The groups include Covid-19 volunteers, jail inmates, retail sellers in markets, hawkers, sex workers and transgenders, lawyers and court staff, journalists, transport workers, dealers of essential goods, and government employees including teachers who were not vaccinated during the assembly elections.

“As vaccines are in short supply, the state executive committee of the disaster management authority in a meeting held on Saturday has decided to divide vaccination into two streams,” said a senior official of the state health department.

One would be the general group (people at large) whose vaccination would be taken care of by the health department, while the other would be the target groups --- super-spreaders, exposed to public mingling and those facing the public.

“Vaccination for the target groups, which comprise endangered as well as potential spreaders, would be handled by various departments of the state government. The departments will create a database of the target groups and also arrange sites for vaccination,” said a senior official.

Till date the state has given around 1.26 crore doses of which 37.17 lakh are second doses of the vaccine. West Bengal has already vaccinated 7,583 transport workers, journalists and hawkers till date since vaccination for the age group of 18-44 years began in the state earlier this week.

The daily count of Covid-19 cases has shot up exponentially in West Bengal since March this year. Experts have blamed it on the rampant violations of Covid-19 protocols at the countless election rallies held in the run-up to the assembly elections that ended on April 29.

On May 15, the state registered 19,511 new cases up from 812 fresh cases reported on March 27, when the eight phase assembly polls kicked off. The state now has 131,948 active cases. At least 144 people died in the last 24 hours, according to official data.