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The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), a nationwide organisation of more than 9.40 lakh chemists, has threatened to join the lockdown to protect and save the lives of its members if they are not vaccinated on priority. The association claims it is sidelined in vaccination priority.
J S Shinde, president of AIOCD, said chemists and medicine distributors have been on 24/7 duty since March 2020 as essential services to needy patients. “We have been dispensing and distributing drugs since the pandemic struck and while it was logical to vaccinate chemists as frontline workers, for some reason we were never considered,” Shinde said.
Anil Belkar, Secretary of the Chemists Association in Pune district that has more than 10,000 members, told The Indian Express that time and again they had asked the district administration to include them on priority for vaccination. We have yet to get a majority of our members vaccinated, Belkar said.
According to the AIOCD, more than 650 chemists and pharmacists have lost their lives due to the Covid-19 infection. They also claimed that when drugs like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab were taken under control by the government, the medication was not available for their own fraternity. “Since we are Jan Swasthya Rakshak chemists’ and want to maintain availability of medicines during the crucial period of Covid-19, we have not resorted to any strike or lockdown,” Shinde said.
“However, we do not want to put our members at further risk, and hence, vaccinate us on priority,” the association demanded.
The organisation has also written to V K Paul, member (health) of the NITI Aayog, requesting priority allocation of vaccines to chemists and also employees of medical devices companies.
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