Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday urged Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao to hold a special COVID-19 vaccination drive for those who got job offers from Gulf countries.
Asaduddin Owaisi took to Twitter and wrote, “Many in Hyd have got job offers from abroad, especially Gulf. Countries are demanding vaccine certificate for Covishield. Request @TelanganaCMO to hold spl vax camp for job visa holders, like it’s being done for students going abroad. Appropriate certificates may also be issued.”
Covishield is the only vaccine available in India that has been recognized by WHO and several other countries.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday has approved the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine in the country. The Indian embassy in Riyadh announced that the Gulf nation has recognized Covishield as an equivalent of the AstraZeneca shot.
The Telangana government on Saturday started a special drive for students who have to go abroad for further studies at the institute of preventive medicine (IPM).
The special vaccination drive focuses on those who have to leave for foreign countries for their jobs. As per media reports, so far 7,000 students have been registered with the health department.
“On the first day, 350 slots were given for students to get themselves vaccinated. The students are being administered Covishield as Covaxin is not recognized in several countries,” director of the institute of preventive medicine Dr Shankar was quoted as saying by ANI.
When the nationwide lockdown announced on March 24, 2020 millions of people lost their jobs, the ongoing crisis has disrupted labor markets around the world at an unprecedented scale.
Thousands of Indian expats have returned home, most of them from the Gulf, asked to pack bags to limit the number of expats in the Kingdom.