TN seeks 1 cr extra doses for mega vax camp on Sept 12

CHENNAI: The State has urged the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for an additional one crore COVID vaccine doses along with an equal number of 0.5ml AD syringes for the mega vaccination drive in Tamil Nadu from September 12, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian, after the stone laying ceremony of a roadside park at Saidapet on Tuesday.

“The Union government has provided 3,31,84,824 doses of vaccine and 1,83,95,400 AD syringes to the State till September 5. A total of 6.06 crore vaccine doses have been administered to those above 18 years of age till now. This includes 2.63 crore first dose and 68.91 lakh second doses,” said Subramanian.

“The State has been vaccinating more than

5 lakh people per day for the past seven days, which makes the supply only adequate for three to four days. This makes it difficult to plan for the remaining eligible population,” he added.

In the mega vaccination camp, the State has a target to inoculate 20 lakh doses, as 10,000 camps are to be set up on September 12, the current stock won’t be adequate. The mega vaccination camp will be conducted on a weekly basis starting from September 12 to cover the remaining 3.44 crore people who are above 18 years of age.

However, after Chief Minister MK Stalin urged for more vaccine doses, the Union government had provided 19 lakh doses two days ago, of which 6 lakh doses have already been administered. The remaining doses would be used up in the coming days, before the camp starts. Also, the State government provided a total of 22,16,160 doses for private hospitals in the State, and they have administered all the given vaccines. The hospitals don’t have any stock available now.

“As Kerala continues to report more COVID cases, the vaccination camp will be focused on the bordering districts of Tamil Nadu, including Coimbatore, Dindigul, Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi, The Niligiris, Theni, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur and Virudhunagar.

It is estimated that 65.76 lakh people from these districts are yet to be given the first dose of vaccine,” said the Health Minister.

Meanwhile, nearly 20 students tested positive for COVID in various districts of Tamil Nadu. The Health Minister said those schools will be sealed and sanitised. Also, students and teachers who have been infected will be monitored and contact tracing will be done. They are planning to do random tests at schools.