Cops asked to get jabs as pandemic worsens

910 cops in Lahore affected by pandemic since outbreak

LAHORE:

Alarmed by the increasing number of Covid-19 cases among cops, the Inspector General of Police Punjab (IGP) Inam Ghani has issued orders to all the officers above the age of 50 to get vaccinated without further delay.

In a letter addressed to the officers, the IGP urged them to personally supervise the process.

He asserted that the third wave of coronavirus epidemic was very dangerous so that to protect the police force, the process of corona vaccination of officers and personnel in all districts of the province should be started immediately so that the police force engaged in the protection of property and lives of people may be kept as safe as possible from the dangers of coronavirus.

He further said that the Punjab government has started registration for walk-in vaccination for citizens above 50 years of age and for vaccination of citizens above 40 years of age, the registration process is continued so all police officers and officials have been directed to quickly get themselves vaccinated so that that they can perform their duties of service and protection of the citizens while being safe from Corona.

He directed the RPOs, CPOs, DPOs and unit heads to personally supervise the corona vaccination process of their subordinate force so that the police officers and personnel above 50 years of age should be given priority by the government and coronavirus vaccine should be administered from the centres while at the same time officers above 40 years of age should register themselves for corona vaccination without any delay so that when the government starts vaccinating this category of citizens, they too can benefit from it on a primary basis.

The IG Punjab directed the officers to send regular reports of coronavirus vaccination of all the district police forces to the CPO. He issued these instructions to all the command officers of the province on Friday while on the direction of IG Punjab, DIG Welfare sent a letter to all RPOs, unit heads and DPOs.

In the letter, the IG Punjab, while issuing instructions to the supervisory officers, urged them to ensure implementation of the above instructions on a priority basis while at the same time ensuring all possible steps to keep the force safe from the coronavirus epidemic.

He further said the coronavirus vaccination of the police force serving on the front line was a matter of urgency and therefore all possible steps would be taken in this regard. As many as 62 police personnel have tested positive for coronavirus during the past five days and 203 officials are quarantined in the provincial capital.

By April 24, at least 910 officials of Lahore police had been affected by the pandemic since its outbreak.

The figure rose to 972 on Thursday.

Of the affected personnel, at least 764 have joined their duties after recovering from the disease. According to Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, the virus has infected two deputy inspectors general, three senior superintendents of police, seven SPs, 23 DSPs, three inspectors, 111 sub-inspectors, 80 ASIs, 778 head constables, 418 constables, 14 senior traffic wardens,155 wardens and several office staff members.

He told The Express Tribune that all efforts were being made to protect police officials from coronavirus by implementing precautionary measures including the wearing of face masks and the use of sanitisers.

On the other hand, Punjab Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani has asked the force throughout the province to intensify the crackdown for implementation of the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Citing the provincial cabinet committee’s decisions in this regard, he asked all regional, city and district police officers to carry out field visits in the evening hours and monitor the implementation of SOPs.