Goan seafarers, students and persons waiting to proceed overseas for employment purpose are still eagerly waiting to take their 2nd dose of Covishield vaccine.
After the Prime Minister's address to the nation on June 7, the District Collectors issued an order dated June 10 whereby all Dy Collectors and SDMs are designated as competent authority for according permission for early administration of 2nd dose of Covishield vaccine (after 28 days / before 84 days) for persons intending to undertake international travel for education purpose, employment in foreign countries and for India's contingent to Tokyo Olympics.
Notwithstanding the SOP, instead of prolonging the waiting period and making the people run in circles to obtain permissions, the Government would do well to simply fast track the procedure for administering the 2nd dose to above special categories by assigning the verification of documents directly to the Medical Officer/ facilitation desk at the respective vaccination centres.
This would not just save the staff of the District Collectorate offices from additional workload but also prevent assembly of persons at these offices thereby minimizing the risk of contracting the dreaded virus during such movement.
The Government should also take urgent steps to update the COWIN app in line with the latest SOP to facilitate early commencement of administration of the 2nd dose of the vaccine.
