Lucknow, Aug 11 (IANS): Foreigners living in Uttar Pradesh can now avail the facility of Covid vaccination following new guidelines, issued by the state government.

As per the guidelines, foreigners living in the state can register themselves with the help of their passport to book a slot. However, the service will not be provided to foreign tourists.

An official order issued by Amit Mohan Prasad, the additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, said this would make vaccination of Buddhist monks living in the state easier.

The guidelines say workplace vaccination centres should be set up by the district inspectors of schools and district basic education officers to ensure that teachers and non-teaching staff in all government and private schools are vaccinated.

The order said efforts should be made to encourage those due for second dose.

The state government has now reserved Saturday slots for those taking the second dose of the vaccine.

The order also underlined the need for vaccination of destitute, homeless, beggars and street dwellers.

The total number of doses extended in Uttar Pradesh crossed 5.5 crore mark with more than 5.2 lakh vaccinations on Tuesday.

At least 4.64 crore have taken at least one dose while 86.17 lakh are fully vaccinated.

Uttar Pradesh recorded only 20 new cases of Corona virus infection on Tuesday. Health officials claimed that it was the lowest Covid-19 count ever reported in the state.

These 20 cases were reported from 12 districts with Prayagraj and Maharajganj accounting for a maximum four cases each. Varanasi recorded two cases while the remaining registered just one case each.