Tamil Nadu now has 5.56 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and is expecting three lakh more doses on Saturday evening, Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian said on Saturday.
So far, the State had received around 1.22 crore doses, and had vaccinated nearly 1.14 crore people, he told reporters at the Government Hospital, Saidapet, where an oxygen generation plant was opened by Chepauk-Triplicane MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Three days ago, the State vaccinated the highest number of people — 3,68,806, he added. “In the Greater Chennai Corporation, traders of the Koyambedu market, the Kasimedu fishing harbour and the Chintadripet market have been vaccinated. Chennai ranks high among the metros in the country in vaccination,” he said.
Mr. Subramanian pointed out that vaccination camps were also being held in rural areas, while private hospitals had taken up new methods, such as drive-in vaccination to take forward the programme.
“When the DMK entered office on May 7, the daily COVID-19 case count was 26,465. On May 21, the number peaked at 36,184. The cases are fast declining, and they reached 8,633 on Friday. We have achieved this decline in nearly 40 days,” he said. A number of States still accounted for 8%-9% positivity rate, while Tamil Nadu’s rate had come down to nearly 5%.
Mr. Subramanian said that earlier, a 1,000-litre plant was opened at the Government Royapettah Hospital at a cost of nearly ₹1.5 crore. A total of 10 plants were being established with the corporate social responsibility funds of industries at hospitals in Kolathur, Villupuram and Namakkal.
