TN vaccination figures touch 5 crore mark

The vaccination drive across TN in both government and private establishments almost reached the 5 crore mark on Wednesday falling short by around 1,500 shots until reports last came. So far, 4,99,98,428 crore people were vaccinated, of which 4,74,56,836 were inoculated under government schemes and 25,41,592 in private hospitals.

Though Chennai has the highest population of those above 18, only 70% got their first dose, whereas Coimbatore and Kancheepuram vaccinated 79% for the first dose, followed by The Nilgiris and Tirupur with 74 and 72% respectively, according to data from the Health Department.

Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said, “We have vaccinated around 19% through the four mega vaccination camps itself. Still, many have not taken their shots for various reasons.” While the State reached 1 crore inoculations in June this year, by July 27, the State achieved a target of 2,00,79,887 inoculations. Since then, the pace of vaccination picked up in TN and in September, the highest number of 1,44,75,866 were vaccinated under the government scheme alone. A majority of people got vaccinated through three mega vaccination camps conducted last month. According to the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, until September 26, the highest vaccination performance was achieved in Chennai, followed by Coimbatore and Tirupur. Perambalur, Ramanathapuram and Paramakudi saw minimal vaccination.

For October, the government has targeted to vaccinate 1.5 crore people, and the fourth mega vaccination camp conducted on the first week of October ended with 17,19,544 inoculations.