Workplace vaccinations allowed from April 11, but only for those above 45

The move is aimed at increasing vaccine access to employees who are 45 years and above in the organised sector. The Union Health Ministry has directed all states and union territories to make arrangements to launch the initiative.

Moneycontrol News

April 07, 2021 / 18:10 IST

The Central government has announced in its new notification on April 7 that it will allow COVID-19 vaccination sessions at workplaces that are having 100 eligible and willing beneficiaries from April 11.

The move is aimed at increasing vaccine access to employees who are 45 years and above in the organised sector.

The Union Health Ministry, in circular, has directed all states and union territories to make arrangements to launch the initiative in consultation with employers and management.

The announcement comes at a time when over 43 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day coverage till now, taking the total doses given in the country so far to 8,31,10,926, according to the Union health ministry data updated on April 6.

On April 7, the Union ministry of health and family welfare said that India has surpassed the United States to become the fastest vaccinating country in the world.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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