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TN vaccinates 2mn people in 12-hour mega drive, hopes for more supplies
The vaccine drive is being carried out when there is a marginal increase in cases here, while neighbouring Kerala has more than 200k active Covid-19 cases, and the state is also dealing with Nipah and Zika, putting Tamil Nadu on alert.
Tamil Nadu on Sunday surpassed its target to inoculate two million people in a 12-hour mega vaccination drive, with 2.836 million people receiving a shot against the Covid-19 disease. The state hopes they can pitch this achievement to the Union government to get more supply of vaccines.
Having received a steady supply of vaccines from the Union government, Tamil Nadu on Sunday held the drive by setting 40,000 camps across the state with a particular concern for the nine districts bordering Kerala. The vaccine drive is being carried out when there is a marginal increase in cases here, while neighbouring Kerala has more than 200k active Covid-19 cases, and the state is also dealing with Nipah and Zika, putting Tamil Nadu on alert.
Tamil Nadu’s vaccination story started from absolute hesitancy due to fear of side effects, among other factors. The perception began to change only during May and June when the second wave of Covid-19 had peaked, and the state was under duress much like other regions due to a shortage in medical oxygen. Vaccinations numbers were still low, but officials said that it was due to a supply shortage.
Officials in Tamil Nadu say that vaccination is the only way to prevent another wave of infections. “When we began vaccinations (in January) we began with 3000 vaccinations, and step by step, we have been increasing, and we have reached this number now. We crossed our 20-lakh target at 4 pm,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan. “We have been consistently telling the Centre that we can vaccinate in such high numbers. Several doubted us, but with our joint effort of health workers and local authorities and public cooperation we have been able to achieve this today.” Chief minister M K Stalin had also assigned 15 IAS officers to monitor the special drive today.
2.7 million doses were distributed across the state for Sunday’s drive, and they were exhausted in most camps by evening. The union government additionally sent 130k doses at 4 pm. “The logistics were complicated but today shows that we can vaccinate 50-lakh people per week if we get ample vaccines,” the health secretary said. “We will use this performance and make efforts to urge the Centre to supply more vaccines to us.”
The capital city of Chennai, which has had maximum vaccinations was on top on Sunday too. “There was a good reception, especially in the nine districts bordering Kerala. Coimbatore district has crossed 1 lakh,” the health secretary said.
Until the end of August, Tamil Nadu had vaccinated more than 30-million people.
