Medical officers and nurses/supervisors have topped the list of COVID-19 vaccine takers in Coimbatore district.
As per the statistics shared by the Health Department, 6,968 persons received the first shot of Covishield vaccine in Coimbatore district since the launch of the nation-wide inoculation drive on January 16.
Of the total number of vaccine takers, more than 2,300 persons were medical officers and 1,920 were nurses/supervisors working in Government and private hospitals in the district.
Nursing students, paramedical staff and support staff stood next to medical officers and nurses/supervisors.
Deputy Director of Health Services said that the Health Department has slowly increased the number of sessions in Coimbatore district.
When launched on January 16, the vaccine was administered in four sessions conducted at four sites namely the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Government Hospital at Mettupalayam, Pollachi and the Primary Health Centre at Nallattipalayam.
“Now, we have increased the number of sessions to 15,” said Dr. Kumar. A maximum of 100 persons shall be administered the vaccine in a session. CMCH topped the list of sites for administering the maximum number of 3,852 doses.
The vaccine administration session at the Government Medical College and ESI Hospital comes under the CMCH.
On Thursday, Puthiya Tamilagam founder K. Krishnasamy received the vaccine from ESI Hospital.
Out of the 6,968 persons who have received the vaccine in the district so far, around 5,800 takers were from urban areas.
District gets additional doses
Coimbatore district was initially allotted 40,600 doses of Covishield vaccine ahead of the launch of the inoculation drive on January 16. Recently, the district was allotted additional 20,000 doses of the vaccine, said officials with the Health Department. Each vaccine vial contains 10 doses.