Reliance Foundation administers over 10 lakh COVID vaccines to RIL employees, family members

Reliance Foundation, the philanthropy arm of India''s largest company by market value, has administered over 10 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses to company employees and their families as well as associates and partners. Soon after the government opened up vaccination for private companies, Reliance Foundation launched the vaccination drive in April, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The drive covered employees and their families as well as associates and partners of the company.

To date, over 98 per cent of all eligible employees have been covered with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Besides, Reliance Foundation and Reliance Foundation Hospital have begun free vaccination for underprivileged communities, wherein additional 10 lakh doses will be administered under the ''We Care Initiative'', they said.

This is the largest free-of-cost corporate vaccination programme. Mass vaccination is the topmost priority for India and a way to fight the current crisis. At Reliance Industries Ltd''s annual general meeting last month, Nita M Ambani, chairperson of Reliance Foundation, had committed to vaccinating the general community.

"Executing this Mission on a nationwide basis is a humungous task. But it is our dharma, our duty to every Indian, our promise of safety and protection. Our firm belief that together, we can, and we will overcome," she had said.

As part of Mission Vaccine Suraksha, over 10 lakh doses have been administered already, to employees and family members across Reliance. Over 171 vaccination centres across the country are vaccinating employees, associates, joint venture partners and all their family members including the off-roll workforce, retired employees and eight family members of each of these groups.

Now, vaccination for the community has been rolled out to administer an additional 10 lakh doses to communities near plant locations and to the general population through NGOs, sources said. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Reliance Foundation has stayed committed to its social responsibility of safeguarding internal as well as external communities.

The initiatives include the supply of free medical oxygen to meet the needs of one lakh patients on a daily basis, over 2,000 COVID-care beds and facilities supported across the country, providing over 7.5 crore meals to vulnerable communities affected by the pandemic and distributing over one crore masks and safety messages to frontline workers, daily wage earners, transport workers and other groups. Reliance has contributed a significant 4 per cent of the country's total CSR spend during 2019-20, sources added.

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