PMC will not provide any benefits to employees who tests positive after refusing to take COVID-19 vaccine

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has threatened to take away various facilities given to its employees if they refuse to get vaccinated and are later found positive for Covid-19.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Rubal Agarwal said, “If civic officers and other staff are not getting vaccinated… and they test positive for coronavirus, then they will not get various facilities of the PMC. The entire responsibility of this would be on the respective civic officer and the employee.”

According to the health department of PMC, only 921 workers have been vaccinated and 22 refused to take the vaccine dose by March 16 even after it has prepared a list of 5,277 frontline workers to be inoculated.

According to a civic officer, some of the staffers are reluctant as they are apprehensive about the vaccine. “The conservancy staff, especially, are not coming forward to take the vaccine, saying they have been working throughout the pandemic and must have become immune to the viral disease. It is the same for the other staff,” said the officer, adding that heads of civic departments should convince the staffers.

Some are also reported citing the ‘side effects’ of the vaccine as a reason to avoid it. The alleged that PMC has asked its employees to attend office regularly but if they fall ill, they would have to take a leave.

While vaccination for frontline workers started on February 8, the PMC has been able to vaccinated 41,864 healthcare workers and 27,706 frontline workers with the first dose and 15,999 and 921 with the second dose till March 17. It has also administered the vaccine to 93,721 senior citizens and 17,332 co-morbid patients.