PremiumWhen the inoculation drive was extended to include everybody above the age of 18 on 1 May, the state government had said they are not in a position to roll out the programme due to a shortage of doses
The Tamil Nadu government is all set to begin vaccinating people in the age group of 18-44 in a phased manner on 20 May, said state health minister M Subramanian on Tuesday.
"Initially, the government will vaccinate those people aged between 18 years and 44 years from whom the coronavirus can spread much faster like auto-rickshaw drivers and factory workers," he said.
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Premium Premium "Chief Minister M K Stalin will formally inaugurate the programme day after tomorrow (20 May)," Subramanian told reporters after inaugurating the "oxygen on wheels" initiative launched by Inner Wheel Club of Adyar.
He said the government has allotted ₹46 crore to procure vaccines and so far nine lakh doses have arrived in the state.
When the inoculation drive was extended to include everybody above the age of 18 on 1 May, the state government had said they are not in a position to roll out the programme due to a shortage of doses.
According to data furnished by the Union ministry of health, Tamil Nadu has only vaccinated 38,710 people in the 18-44 group. As many as 64,60,624 beneficiaries in the age group across 36 states and union territories have received their first dose so far.
The state government has also floated a global tender to procure 3.5 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
The government has sought a delivery schedule of 180 days progressively from the date of the purchase order for 3.5 crore (35 million) vaccines for ₹2,00,00,000 (20 million). The last date for submission of tenders is 5 June at 11 am.
The Centre is providing vaccine doses to all states for vaccinating people above the age of 45 and the union government has now said that states should go in for buying vaccines to inoculate those in the 18-45 age group.
Cases in Tamil Nadu
The state clocked 33,059 new Covid-19 cases, including 12 returnees from various destinations, pushing the caseload to 16,64,350 while a record 364 deaths took the toll to 18,369, the health department said on Tuesday.
According to a medical bulletin, 21,362 people were discharged on Tuesday, taking the tally to 14,03,052, leaving 2,42,929 active cases.
Chennai accounted for 6,016 new infections, totalling to 4,50,267 till date.
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