"Ascertain vaccination status before salary disbursement," Assam Govt. issues new order

Of late the second wave of covid pandemic has been gradually improving in Assam with caveats as a few districts are still reporting cluster cases. However, the ongoing vaccine drive is also gaining the much required momentum now with rejuvenated vaccine manufacturing efforts in large scale helping to keep the virus at bay. Epidemiologists believe that new infectious variants of the virus can only be subjugated by vaccinating a much greater percentage of the population or else new variants will still keep on emerging as the virus finds new bodies to mutate itself for survival. If efficacy of a vaccine starts to flicker because of new variants then it would only be able to effectively stop transmission when the whole population receives it and also nullify the possibility of more new variants popping up. A well co-ordinated vaccine drive co-operated by the public from all sections of the society can ensure that we reach towards that goal sooner rather than later and regret. Government Employees who frequently interact with the public because of their job also have a role to play in it.

Now, considering the gravity of the situation Assam Government has mandated state government employees both contractual and fixed pay to get vaccinated compulsorily. Failure to get vaccinated may also result in delay in disbursement of salaries with effect from this month. The state govt. took the decision as it was observed that despite availability of vaccines many frontline govt. employees were yet to get themselves vaccinated. Not getting vaccinated being a frontline warrior also sets a bad precedent for the general masses which can further fuel the much dreaded vaccine hesitancy.

The order signed by Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua in his capacity as the the Chairperson of the State Executive Committee of the State Disaster Management Authority, Assam also states that “non-vaccination of such frontline government servants may give rise to the possibility of further spread of the virus which, in turn, may endanger the lives of common citizens, especially the vulnerable groups like infant, pregnant women etc.”

What remains to be watched out is how far the new order is successful in getting the remaining government employees vaccinated assuaging their fears.