Punjab health minister warns of stopping financial help to healthcare workers unwilling to get vaccinated

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], February 22 : Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Monday said that healthcare workers and other medical professionals who do not get vaccinated against COVID-19 will bear their cost of treatment and will not be allowed to avail quarantine or isolation leaves.
"Healthcare workers who do not get vaccinated, despite being given repeated opportunities and in case they get the infection later, they will have to bear the cost of their treatment and they will not be allowed to avail quarantine or isolation leave," Balbir said.
The Punjab government has taken serious note of reports that some healthcare professionals choosing not to get vaccinated, amid rising cases of COVID-19 in some states and a low rate of inoculation in Punjab.
The Punjab Health Minister further pointed out that recent days have seen a hike of COVID-19 cases in Punjab.
"The matter of concern is that cases are rising for 3-4 days. We have asked healthcare workers to get vaccinated as they are on the frontline. We do not want to lose any other health worker to COVID-19. Anything is possible if cases continue to rise. We have to take precautions from our end," he added.
India's total active COVID-19 caseload comes from the states -- Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a statement on Saturday.
According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab has 3,019 active cases with 1,69,686 recoveries. As many as 5,754 people have lost their battle to COVID-19 in the state so far.