New Delhi, Mar 16 (IANS):Ludhiana on Monday became the first city in India to extend Covid vaccination to the people beyond the priority group listed by the Centre.

In a decision taken on late Monday evening, the district administration of Ludhiana allowed ongoing vaccination programme to all the employees of all government/private banks, government/private schools, staff of food grain agencies, judicial officers/court staff/advocates, journalists, members of the Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) who have worked to check spread of Covid-19 pandemic, officials informed IANS.

The decision has also been given a go-ahead from the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, officials claimed.

The aforementioned will be listed as frontline workers, they added.

"The decision is taken in the larger public interest to ensure the safety of the wider population from the Covid pandemic," said Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Singh.

"They all have worked tirelessly during the pandemic and have discharged their duties as frontline workers either online or offline modes," he added.

The move comes after Sharma presided over a meeting of the District Task Force to stem steep rise by accelerating the vaccination drive to face the pandemic.

The officials told IANS that the new category of beneficiaries will have to receive the jabs on-site since CoWIN will not accept their registration.

"For vaccination, they will have to carry their official ID verifying their job profile and Aadhar Card and to the vaccination sites," an official from health and family welfare department of Punjab said.