First COVID-19 vaccine dose coverage reaches 67% in TN, says Health Minister

Residents due to get their second shots must come forward and get vaccinated, the Minister said

A scene at the Mega COVID-19 vaccination drive in Salem on Sunday

At the end of the fifth mega vaccination camp on Sunday, Tamil Nadu’s first dose coverage of COVID-19 vaccine reached 67%, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said.

“Till Sunday morning, the first dose coverage was 64%. As nearly 22.50 lakh doses were administered through the mega camp, the first dose coverage has increased to 67%,” he told reporters on Monday.

About 25 lakh persons were due to receive their second dose of COVID-19 -- six lakh for Covaxin and 19 lakh for Covishield -- till Sunday morning. “About 11.02 lakh persons received their second dose at the mega camp held on Sunday. The remaining persons who are due to receive their second dose should come forward and get vaccinated,” he added.

The Minister said that additional focus was given to districts that had low seroprevalence. Additional doses of vaccines were allocated to such districts.

Medical camps

Medical camps will be organised in 50 places, including two in Chennai, across all districts as a part of “Varumun Kappom”, a preventive healthcare scheme of the State government, on Tuesday. Every year, 1,250 camps are planned under the scheme that was recently re-launched by the Chief Minister, in Salem.

The Minister said that former CM M. Karunanidhi launched the scheme in December 2006 but it was not implemented in the last 10 years of AIADMK rule.

There would be 17 halls on the activities of the Health Department, as well as awareness campaigns. More than 20 healthcare services such as general medicine, general surgery, maternal and child healthcare, screening for renal diseases, cervical and breast cancers, and diagnostic services such as ultrasound and ECG would be available.

The camps would be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those who needed higher treatment such as for eye surgery or cardiac surgery would be referred to the district headquarters hospitals or government medical college hospital. While COVID-19 vaccination services would be available at these camps, a facility to get the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme cards would also be available, the Minister said.

He added that during the rainy season, special medical camps would be held in corporations such as Chennai.