A day after Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the COVID-19 vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group in the State, the vaccination slots for this age group remained closed in Coimbatore district on Friday.
Sources in the Health Department here said that they have been awaiting instructions from the State government to allow beneficiaries of the 18-44 age group for vaccination. The reason for the delay was not clear. As of Friday, Coimbatore district had 48,000 doses of Covishield and 7,000 doses of Covaxin in stock, according to the sources.
The Health Department has proposed setting up 10 government vaccination centres for Coimbatore district, including five centres in Coimbatore Corporation limits and the remaining in Thondamuthur, Sulur, Pollachi, Periyanaickenpalayam and Mettupalayam. These might be revised based on requirement and has not been finalised as of Friday, the sources noted.
Private hospitals to directly procure vaccines
Under the initiative of the Tamil Nadu State branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to procure the Covishield vaccine directly from the Serum Institute of India in Pune, around 50 private hospitals in Coimbatore district are likely to receive vaccine doses, said president of IMA – Coimbatore branch, V. Rajesh Babu.
As of Friday, nearly 150 private hospitals across the State have registered through the IMA State branch to receive the vaccine doses from SII directly after paying the amount as per their requirement, he said. “For the past 20 days, [private hospitals] were not able to get the vaccines [from State government],” Dr. Babu said.