New Delhi, December 26: The personnel of Delhi Police would be among the firsts to get COVID-19 vaccine shots, officials in-charge of the immunisation programme were reported as saying on Saturday. The cops serving in the national capital have been asked to update their mobile numbers in the internal data storage. They would be informed about the date, time and place of the vaccination through SMS on their registered numbers.

The police personnel, along with healthcare workers and civic staff are considered among the vulnerable groups. Since they are deployed round the clock for public duties, the cops face the constant risk of contracting the virus. COVID-19 Vaccine Will Be Available to 35,000 Health Workers of Government and Private Hospitals in Gurugram.

The Union Health Ministry, in its vaccination plan, has listed that the frontline workers and high-risk group individuals - including those aged above 50 and those with comorbidities - would be vaccinated in the initial phase.

The cops have been directed to update their mobile numbers in the "PIS system on IntraDP system" at the earliest, senior police officer Muktesh Chander was reported as saying. The exercise of contact number updation is targeted to be completed by January 3, 2021.

While several state governments and union territories have drawn advanced strategies for vaccination, the health regulator in India is yet to clear the doses for emergency usage. The candidates of Pfizer-BioNTech, Bharat Biotech and Oxford-AstraZeneca (developed by Serum Institute of India) are lined up for review.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2020 08:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).