The Coimbatore Corporation resumed vaccination on Saturday after it received fresh doses from the State Government. According to sources, as of Saturday evening, the civic body had vaccinated 2,920 people – 650 in East Zone, 594 in West Zone, 750 in North Zone, 376 in South Zone and 550 in Central Zone.
This took the total people the corporation had vaccinated since January 18, 2021 to 26,180, said sources.
The corporation conducted the vaccination drive at five centres – one each a zone. Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner P. Kumaravel Pandian, who inspected the West Zone centre, had asked the medical team to send a few vaccines to the primary health centres in Kalveerampalayam and another centre to prevent overcrowding at the vaccination centre, said sources familiar with the development. Consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon said the civic body should not restrict the vaccination centres to just five as this could lead to people crowding them, particularly the 45-plus age category.
It would be prudent if the civic body were to despatch the vaccines to as many urban primary health centres possible, he said and added that this would also prevent people from travelling long distances for vaccination.
This was more important during the lockdown because people going for or returning from vaccination had to answer police personnel, who enforced lockdown.
Mr. Pandian said the civic body would distribute the vaccines to the urban primary health centres in the next round so as to prevent overcrowding.
