Nurses hold protest against high workload due to Covid-19 vaccination duty

MADURAI: Expressing that they are suffering physically and mentally due to long hours on Covid-19 vaccination duty, around 250 village health nurses (VHNs), sector health nurses (SHNs) and community health nurses (CHNs) staged a protest on the Madurai district collectorate campus demanding lesser workload.

The protesting nurses demanded that the government not hold mega vaccination drives on Sundays and also reduce the timing till 5pm. “We are working for the mega Covid-19 vaccination drive and are also going for door-to-door duty every day. This is taking a toll on us. We are ready to work hard to provide Covid-19 vaccination for all but it is unfair to give us unreasonable targets and pressurize us,” said K Chinnaponnu, Madurai district secretary, Tamil Nadu Village Health Nurses Association.

“Other department officials are not providing us the support we need consistently. We are also continuously enduring verbal abuse from public who tell us not to force them to take the Covid-19 vaccine. This is greatly affecting our mental health. The state government has said that vaccination is a choice and not mandatory but are putting pressure and threatening us to achieve vaccination targets,” said a VHN.

“We are not asking to relieve us from Covid vaccination duty. We just need some breathing space. Let the public also have some accountability for not taking the Covid-19 vaccine,” said another nurse.

The other demands included promotion in five years instead of 33 years and 50% quota for CHNs for promotion to district maternal and child health offices.