Industry body Noida Entrepreneurs’ Association on Thursday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prioritise the workers of the micro, small and medium enterprises during the coronavirus vaccination drive and provide them the shots for free, reports PTI. The Noida Entrepreneurs’ Association, or NEA, has over 6,000 MSME members.

Citing media reports that the price of the vaccine could be between Rs 200 and Rs 1000, the industry body said that Rs 1,000 would be too expensive for the workers. In the letter, the NEA President Vipin Malhan pointed out that the MSME sector employs workers aged below 50, who earn around Rs 15,000 a month.

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“These labourers make an important contribution for the country, work on daily wages and work day and night to manage a living for themselves and their families,” Malhan said. “It is requested to you that people working in registered companies in the MSME sector and those dependent on them should be given a priority in vaccination.”

The NEA chief added that the workers could be provided free vaccines by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation or any other institution. The Employees’ State Insurance is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for Indian workers.

On January 3, the Drug Controller General of India had approved Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Serum Institute of India’s Covishield vaccines for restricted emergency use in the country. The vaccination drive is likely to begin soon as the Union Health Ministry has asked states and Union Territories to be prepared to receive the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines. The ministry has said the vaccines will be supplied “shortly” to the consignee points of the states and Union Territories.

Meanwhile, India on Thursday registered 20,346 new cases, taking its tally to 1,03,95,279. The new cases are about 12% higher than Wednesday’s count. The country’s toll rose by 222 to 1,50,336. India’s active cases stood at 2,28,083, while the recoveries reached 1,00,16,859