Authorities step up efforts to vaccinate staff, shopkeepers

New Delhi: Amid a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, authorities in Delhi have stepped up efforts to ensure 100 per cent vaccination of the staff and the shopkeepers at markets across the national capital.

In several districts, the market associations have been asked to ensure that the shopkeepers and the other staff have received both doses of a Covid vaccine and to submit the certificates of the same at the respective district administration offices.

Two city markets — Sarojini Nagar and the Janpath market — have already been declared as fully-vaccinated markets by the district administration.

"Vaccination is the only thing that can save people from Covid. So it is crucial that everyone in a market, which has the potential of becoming a super spreader, is fully vaccinated. Instructions have been issued to the market associations to ensure the same and submit supportive documents to us at the earliest," an official in Southeast district told.

Major markets where the associations have been asked to provide the details of the vaccination status and ensure 100 per cent vaccination of the employees include the Lajpat Nagar market, the Bengali market, the Kamla Nagar market, the Krishna Nagar market and the Rajouri Garden market.

The shopkeepers and vendors at the Lajpat Nagar market have been asked by the administration to submit the vaccination certificates of the shop owners and the staff.

Following the directions, the Traders Association Lajpat Nagar (TALN) has asked the shop owners to get their staff vaccinated and submit the supportive documents by Monday.

TALN general secretary Ashwani Marwah said they had several meetings with the district administration to come up with a practical implementation programme to ensure compliance with the DDMA guidelines on the weekend curfew, the odd-even opening of shops and the vaccination of the staff.

"We have been asked by the district administration to ensure that all the staff and the shop owners are double vaccinated. We have requested all our members to furnish documentary evidence in the form of the vaccination certificates of all the employees. We would collect the documents and submit those to the district magistrate (southeast) early next week," Marwah told