LUCKNOW:Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said, incisive reporting by journalists helped frame his government’s strategy to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. He was speaking after distributing cheques of Rs 10lakh each to 55 families of journalists, who died of Covid while on duty.
“We organised special vaccination camps in Lucknow and Noida for media persons as they, like all corona warriors, needed a shield from the virus. Unlike healthcare staff, journalists did not have safety gears like PPE kits and gloves and were also short on masks and sanitizers. “Yet, they faced challenges and helped the government by highlighting facts,” he said.
Yogi said special booths vaccinated around 25,000 journalists and their family members. “We brought down vaccine wastage and immunised the maximum number of people. Each vial can inoculate at least 11 persons,” he said.
The CM said, though the situation was under control, the virus had the potential to mutate further. “We are thankful to PM Narendra Modi for providing vaccines and the speed of vaccination drive was enough to provide safety to the maximum number of people,” he said.
President of National Broadcast Association and senior journalist Rajat Sharma said, media persons were not deterred by the devastating pandemic waves and continued to perform their duty. He also thanked chief minister Yogi Adityanath for organising special vaccination camps for journalists.
