AIIMS Nurses Union urges Delhi CM to provide vaccines for healthcare workers' family members

Of 25,87,41,810, the total consumption, including wastage, is 24,76,58,855 doses (according to data available at 8 am on Saturday), the ministry said in a statement.

AIIMS Nurses Union has written to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urging him to take immediate measures to provide vaccines for healthcare workers' family members, aged between 18 to 45 years, on a priority basis.

While appreciating unified efforts of the Delhi government to provide a vaccination centre at the premier hospital, nurses union's president Harish Kumar Kajla and general secretary  Fameer CK, in a letter to Kejriwal, said that most of the AIIMS healthcare workers have got both the jabs of Covaxin.

However, their family members aged 18 to 45 years are facing great difficulty in scheduling their vaccination, they said.

This is a matter of great concern, they said, as almost all healthcare workers stay with their families.

"Many frontliners have expressed their concerns about the delay in vaccinating their near ones as poor vaccination may end up in exacerbation of infection as the threat of the third wave of virus crisis looms ahead," they said in the letter.

"We request you to kindly take immediate measures to provide vaccines for the family members of HCWs (belongs to the age group of 18-45 years) at the earliest on a high priority basis," they added.

The COVID-19 vaccination in the country commenced with inoculation of healthcare workers on January 16. The program was expanded with time to include vaccination of frontline workers, citizens more than 60 years of age, citizens more than 45 years of age and eventually citizens more than 18 years of age from May 1.