Producers Guild of India to vaccinate members from Tuesday
The Producers Guild of India (PGI), the association of Indian film, television, and digital content producers, on Monday, announced a vaccination drive for its members and associated production crews beginning from June 1. According to a press release, the guild said the members will be vaccinated over the multi-day drive to be held at Mehboob Studios in suburban Bandra.
'Vaccination key to getting the industry back on its feet'
Siddharth Roy Kapur, President of the Producers Guild of India, said the initiative was key to getting the film industry back on its feet amid the coronavirus pandemic. He also thanked the production banner Excel Entertainment who played a pivotal role in securing the vaccines and Mehboob Productions who very generously offered complimentary use of the spacious Mehboob Studios.
Kapur expressed his gratitude toward everyone who helped
Kapur, while talking about organizing the coronavirus vaccination drive for PGI members, said, "An activity of such importance and magnitude cannot be carried out single-handedly and we are extremely grateful for the support we have received to make this possible."
Yash Raj Films had sought permission to vaccinate FWICE members
"We are happy that we are able to provide this facility to our members, their employees, and the cast and crew of their productions," Kapur said. Earlier this month, Yash Raj Films wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to allocate and allow them to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for 30,000 members of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE).
All shoots stand suspended in the state to curb cases
On March 1, the Centre launched the nationwide drive to vaccinate everyone above 60 years of age, those aged between 45 and 59 with comorbidities, and later extended it to 18 to 44 years of age. Maharashtra government had suspended all shootings in order to curb the spread of the infection. Currently, few TV shows and film shoots are happening outside Maharashtra.
Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally has shot past 57 lakh
According to the health department, Maharashtra on Sunday reported 18,600 new COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 57,31,815, while the death of 402 patients pushed the number of fatalities to 94,844. Meanwhile, India on Monday reported 1.52 lakh new COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day spike in infections in 50 days, along with over 3,100 fresh fatalities.
