Health workers announce protest against non-payment of Covid risk allowance

ISLAMABAD: The district health workers have announced to go on strike in Islamabad to protest against the non-payment of COVID-19 risk allowance and decided to organise a protest at the F-9 mass vaccination centre on Wednesday (today), ARY News reported.

The district health workers announced to shut federally-administered vaccination centres to protest against non-payment of Covid risk allowance. They added that doctors, LHV, LHW, supervisors and nurses will not join the duties today.

The employees of the district health department said that the government is paying Covid allowances to hospital workers, but the employees of the district health department were completely neglected. They demanded the government to provide them with the Covid risk allowances from July 2020 to July 2021.

On the other hand, the District Health Officer (DHO) Islamabad appealed to the health department employees not to go on strike as it will affect the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign. The DHO said that the demands of the employees were forwarded to the health ministry and the federal government will accept their just demands.

It is pertinent to mention here that the health workers of Islamabad’s government hospitals are already on strike since Monday against the non-release of the COVID-19 risk allowance.

The doctors and the paramedic staff of PIMS, Polyclinic, CDA, FGH and others shut down Outpatient Departments (OPDs) in protest to force the federal government for early release of COVID-19 risk allowance to them.