At 15%, vaccine drive in TN one of lowest in country

Though the Health Ministry claimed that India has carried out the fifth highest number of COVID-19 vaccinations by inoculating 2.03 million people till January 26, Tamil Nadu (15.7 pc), Delhi (15.7 pc), Jharkhand (14.7 pc), Uttrakhand (17.1 pc), Chhattisgarh (20.6 pc) and Maharashtra (20.7 pc) have less than 21 pc vaccination coverage and need to improve, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.

Despite the push by the Tamil Nadu government, participation of private hospitals in the vaccination drive continues to progress at a snail’s pace. Health Department officials said only 10-15 per cent healthcare workers from private hospitals have received the vaccine till date.

While a few healthcare workers from private hospitals are visiting government facilities to get the shots, others claim they are waiting for respective hospitals to start the drive. A representative from MIOT Hospitals said, “We are planning to start a drive at the hospital soon.”

Dr Spoorthi Arun, Internal Medicine Physician from Promed Hospital said, “Here, we are waiting for the stock of vaccines and will begin administering shots once it arrives.”

In other hospitals, about 50 per cent of staff members have been vaccinated.

At Gems Hospital Chennai, 150 healthcare workers out of 305, got the jab. “At least 50 percent of doctors from Rainbow Children’s Hospital have been vaccinated,” said Saranavakumar Rajan, General Manager, Operations, Rainbow Children’s Hospital.

Only two private hospitals, Apollo Hospitals and MGM Healthcare, were initially included to have a vaccination site at their premises following which 13,060 healthcare workers from Apollo and 2,022 staff members at MGM Healthcare registered in the CoWIN app.

Eight more private facilities have received the approval to become vaccination sites. “We will open up more vaccination sites at private hospitals based on the number of healthcare workers,” said Dr T S Selvavinayagam, director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.