Sunday lockdown brings down vaccination numbers

CHENNAI: The number of persons being administered the vaccine fell drastically on Sunday due to the complete lockdown imposed on Sundays by the State government.

According to the Greater Chennai Corporation, only

3,755 persons took their shots on Sunday, which is the lowest since the vaccination drive picked up in the city. “On Monday, around 37,000 persons took their vaccines, which is around 10 times higher than the vaccination achieved on

Sunday,” said an official. It may be noted that the civic body had administered vaccines to around 50,000 persons on April 16, which is the highest number vaccinations on a single day.

So far, 13,24,904 persons took the vaccines in the city, including those who received the first and second doses. The civic body has temporarily stopped administering Covaxin as first doses owing to shortage of supply. On the other hand, Covishield is available for both the doses.

The official said the civic body had received supplies of Covishield and Covaxin recently and added that the present stock would last for two days.

“We are continuously receiving the vaccine to manage the requirement but the supply is inadequate,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the civic body has warned the persons under home quarantine of severe action if they violated the protocol. Those violating the rules would be transferred to COVID care centers. “Also, the family members of such patients will be sent to isolation centers,” the civic body warned.