Superintendent of police of Kaithal, Lokender Singh said that some people were protesting, in the backdrop of the farmers’ protests, at the vaccination centre and therefore the vaccination drive was shifted to the civil hospital.

Members of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) held a protest at a designated Covid-19 vaccination centre in Kaithal, Haryana, and did not allow doctors to vaccinate healthcare workers on Saturday. However, the drive went on smoothly after the vaccination process was shifted to a new location.

Farmers reached one of the two vaccination centres in Kaithal, set up at a school and demanded that the Covid-19 vaccine be first given to BJP leaders and top-level officials.

“We are not against this vaccination but they should give this vaccine to top officials first,” said Hoshiar Singh Gill, BKU (Charuni) district president. The protesters said so as the vaccines are being given without completion of requisite steps of tests.

Gill said that they also came to know that the local BJP MLA, Leela Ram Gurjar, was there to inaugurate the vaccination drive, and this agitated the farmers as the MLA had raised questions over the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the three farm-laws.

When contacted, Kaithal superintendent of police, Lokender Singh said that some people were protesting at the vaccination centre and therefore the drive was shifted to civil hospital in Kaithal.

The farmers in Kaithal chased away the doctors from the vaccination centre. The farmers stopped all the proceedings and said that healthcare workers should not take these vaccines and demanded that politicians should first take these vaccines. After the protest by the Bharatiya Kisan Union members, the vaccination centre was reportedly shifted to a new location.