COVID-19 vaccination for workplaces

The COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world and brought entire industries to a standstill all across the corporate space. No industry and no country was left unscathed, and it has proven to be a global health challenge like no other in recent memory.

However, with vaccines now being made available to the public and a sense of optimism coming back to the workforce, the path forward seems to be on everyone's minds.

So far, about 80 million doses have been given to frontline workers and those above the age of 60 years. However, as India hit the 1,00,000 daily caseload mark recently, it has now become imperative to start focusing on inoculating as many people as possible, so that we may yet reduce the risk of infection from growing any further. India's inoculation drive aims to cover 250 million people by July, and one of the best ways to achieve that target is by beginning vaccinations at the workplace.

Recommendations for vaccinations at the workplace:

As per the recommendation of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), vaccination drives have been expanded to cover the general population aged 45+ years from 1st April 2021 onwards.

Vaccination drives may be organized at workplaces having about 100 willing and eligible beneficiaries in order to optimize utilization of the vaccine dosage and reduce chances of wastage. Organizing vaccination at the workplace will be convenient to staff and reduce the risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus by helping employees avoid unnecessary travel to and from vaccination centres.

Identification of eligible workplaces:

The District Task Force (DTF) and the Urban Task Force (UTF), chaired by the District Magistrate and the Municipal Commissioner respectively, will identify eligible government and private workplaces based on certain criteria.

One of the senior staff from the selected workplaces will be designated as the "Nodal Officer" to coordinate with district health authorities and private COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) to support the vaccination drive.

The Nodal Officer will oversee and facilitate all aspects of the vaccination at workplace CVC like registration of beneficiaries, availability of physical and IT infrastructure etc.

Identification of eligible and willing beneficiaries:

Employees aged 45 years and above are eligible, and this does not include any family members or outsiders not affiliated with the organization conducting the vaccination drive.

All beneficiaries are required to be registered on the CoWin portal prior to vaccination. The CVC Nodal Officer will ensure the registration of all targeted beneficiaries and will also facilitate on-the-spot registration to eligible employees.

ekincare drives corporate vaccinations:

Keeping in view the importance of keeping India’s workforce healthy and stress-free, ekincare initiated a vaccination drive for employees and their dependents of clients on 8th March, 2021. Since then, more than 3 Lakh employees across over 100 client companies have already registered to receive the jab. Now with the government’s announcement, ekincare is very well-prepared to help the new COVID-19 vaccination drive be a success as well.

Onward to vaccination:

Now armed with this knowledge, HR managers and company leaders of India Inc. have the golden opportunity to ease their workforce's health-related concerns and provide an in-house solution to the COVID-19 nightmare. Vaccinations at the workplace will not only reduce stress, but also improve the morale of all the eligible employees of the organization as it shows that the management truly cares for the health of those under its care. The time is ripe to fight COVID-19 and leave it where it deserves to be, in history. Let's gear up for a vaccination drive, and keep India Inc. healthy and thriving! You can also find COVID-19 vaccination FAQs on our blog.