Gujarat sets vaccination deadline for people involved in professional activities

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Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government has made it mandatory for the people involved in ‘professional activities’ in the state's 18 cities and towns, which continue to remain under coronavirus-induced night curfew, to get themselves vaccinated against the virus by June 30.

The government has set the deadline of July 10 for vaccination of such people in the remaining parts of the state.

However, the government is yet to decide what action it would take against those who do not get themselves vaccinated within the stipulated deadline.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the Gujarat government's core committee on COVID-19, headed by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, held on Thursday evening at his residence.

“It is compulsory for directors, owners and staff of those involved in vyavasayik (professional) activities in 18 cities, where curfew will continue for next few days to get themselves vaccinated by June 30,” the state government said in a release.

In other areas of the state, all those involved in professional activities will have to get themselves vaccinated by July 10, it added.

A state government official said, “We are yet to decide about what action should be taken against those who will not get themselves vaccinated by the given deadline given.”

The government's aim is to get maximum number of those involved in professional activities vaccinated, he added.

Talking about the order, Purshottam Kalal, a hardware trader in Bopal area of Ahmedabad city, said, “Traders feel that it will be difficult to get all those involved in professional activities vaccinated in the next five days in Ahmedabad. The government should extend the deadline.”

After the core committee meeting, the government announced lifting of night curfew from 18 towns and relaxing its timing in the same number of urban centres by one hour. 

However, night curfew will continue in other 18 cities and towns, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. The government also relaxed many curbs as the cases of coronavirus are declining in the state.

Among a slew of relaxations in restrictions imposed earlier to curb COVID-19 cases, the government allowed opening of cinema halls, multiplexes and auditoriums at 50 per cent capacity, permitted shops to do business till 9 pm instead of 7 pm and allowed buses to ply at 75 per cent of their seating capacity, the release said.

So far, 2.39 crore vaccine doses have been given to people of Gujarat. On Thursday, 4.44 lakh people were inoculated in the state.

(With inputs from news agencies)