Punjab on Friday, Sept 9,  announced that government employees without even one Covid-19 jab for any non-medical reasons will be compulsorily sent on leave after September 15, becoming the latest in a handful of states to attempt a mandatory vaccine mandate.

A government statement said chief minister Amarinder Singh took the “strong measure” to protect the people of the state and ensure that vaccinated people do not pay the price for continued vaccine hesitancy.

“Special efforts are taken to reach out to government employees, and those who continue to avoid getting vaccinated will now be asked to go on leave till they get the first dose,” the chief minister said at a a high-level virtual Covid review meeting.

Till Friday, Punjab had administered nearly 15.9 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, of which 12,039,477 were first shots and 3,826,637 were second. This translates to roughly 53% of the state’s adult population having received at least one shot of the vaccine, which puts Punjab among the bottom 10 of India’s states.