In a statement today, the Editors Guild of India urged the union government to declare journalists as frontline workers and allow them "priority vaccinations" against Covid.
"News organisations have been relentlessly covering the pandemic, elections, and other current affairs in an effort to ensure that the flow of news and information to readers continues unabated," the statement said. "...Therefore, it will only be fair that journalists be given this cover of protection, especially in the face of number of infected rising to astronomical levels."
The Editors Guild of India urges the Union Government to declare journalists as frontline workers and be allowed priority vaccination against Coronavirus, along with other frontline workers. #COVID19 #COVID19Vaccine #COVIDEmergency #Media #fronlineworkers pic.twitter.com/up7rjo0Z88
— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) April 15, 2021
The statement pointed out that media personnel were finding it "very difficult to discharge their professional responsibilities" without the protection of a vaccine.
The guild's statement comes a day after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government was writing to the centre to treat journalists as frontline workers and get them vaccinated.
Journalists are reporting from most adverse situations. They shud be treated as frontline workers and shud be allowed vaccination on priority. Delhi govt is writing to centre in this regard
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 14, 2021
India's Covid cases doubled in just 10 days, overtaking Brazil this week to become the country with the second highest number of cases.
Also Read: ‘Who will write about us if we fall sick?’: The vulnerability of journalists in the time of Covid-19
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