Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said on Thursday that the COVID-19 vaccine would be administered to all people in Tamil Nadu at government expense.
“People are apprehensive of contracting the novel coronavirus. When a vaccine is available, it will be administered to all free of cost,” he told reporters here after chairing a meeting to review the measures taken to control COVID-19 in the district.
Mr. Palaniswami, however, said the spread of the novel coronavirus was on the decline in the State, owing to intense measures taken by the government. Compared to the neighbouring Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the spread of the infection had been brought down in Tamil Nadu.
“The coordinated efforts have yielded good results at a time when even developed countries are finding it difficult to control the spread of the virus,” Mr. Palaniswami said.
The number of positive cases had come down, while the number of those who recovered from the infection had increased. These measures had also helped to bring down the mortality rate, he said.
Complimenting officials on their dedication in the fight against the infection, at the frontline, Mr. Palaniswami said adequate testing centres had been created all over the State and bed facilities had been augmented at hospitals. Tamil Nadu was on top in respect of testing: RT-PCR tests were being done on 90,000 persons a day.
Mr. Palaniswami accused Leader of the Opposition and DMK president M.K. Stalin of spreading false information in a “planned manner” about the investments made in the State after the global investors’ meet.
The establishment of the manufacturing unit of ITC Ltd., at Viralimalai in the backward Pudukottai district, providing employment to 2,200 persons, was an example of the government’s commitment to attracting investments and promoting industrialisation, he said.
