Centre to include seafarers in priority list for COVID-19 vaccination

Considering the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways on Saturday informed that the Government of India has prioritized vaccination of the seafarers. Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (Independent Charge) and Chemicals and Fertilizers reviewed the status of vaccination to the seafarers and suggested the seafaring industry should not get hampered due to non-vaccination. He proposed that immediate efforts should be made to vaccinate the seafarers before they join their scheduled duties on board. 

India plays a very significant role in the global seafaring industry and thus, many demands have been received from various quarters requesting priority vaccination of the seafarers considering the nature of their work.

The Ministry released the names of six major ports that have started vaccination centres at their respective port hospital which include- Mumbai Port Trust, Cochin Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust, Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Kolkata Port Trust, and Tuticorin Port Trust. In addition to the ports, a private hospital in Kerala has also organized vaccination facilities for the seafarers. Special vaccination camps have also been organized across the nation by Seafaring Unions/ Associations like MASSA, FOSMA, and NUSI.

The Ministry of PS&W has also made efforts to include State Governments onboard into making seafarers their priority beneficiaries, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Goa have already accepted the proposition. 

Union Minister Mandaviya in a tweet said, "India is committed to providing vaccines to Seafarers! I am thankful to Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Kerala CM Vijayan Pinarayi Ji for including Seafarers in State 'Priority List' for vaccination."

He further requested other states to accept the proposition of vaccinating the seafarers on priority. Speaking about the effort put by all the six major port trusts of India and Seafaring Union and Associations, Mandaviya stated, "It is our constant endeavour that the seafarers' Joining Schedule should not be prolonged due to non-vaccination."

COVID-19 situation in India

India reported 1,20,529 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the country's total infection count to 2,86,94,879. However, 3,380 people died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people that succumbed to the virus to 3,44,082.

On the other hand, according to provisional data, the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered in the country has reached 22.75 million (22,75,67,873). The first dose of the COVID vaccine was administered to 16,23,602 people aged between 18 to 44, while the second dose was administered to 31,217 persons in the same age group. 

Input- ANI

Image Source- ANI/Representative/SHIPMIN_INDIA-Twitter