Tamil Nadu is expecting vaccine supply from the Union government as its current stock of around five lakh doses will get exhausted by Tuesday, Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian said on Monday.
“Tamil Nadu received 83 lakh doses from the Centre. The State government, through its continued efforts, paid ₹85.48 crore for 25 lakh doses to vaccinate those aged 18-44. We have so far received 13 lakh doses. Along with the Union government’s supply, we have received 96 lakh doses that were distributed to all districts and being administered. So far, 87 lakh doses have been administered. In the first wave, a wastage of 3% was reported. Now, we have nearly five lakh doses that will be administered today [Monday] and tomorrow [Tuesday] at all places,” he told reporters.
The remaining 12 lakh of the 25 lakh doses were expected to arrive soon, he said.
864 beds at CCC
The Minister said oxygen-supported beds were being created in urban and rural areas. “As part of this measure, a COVID-19 Care Centre (CCC) was created at Chennai Trade Centre. A total of 864 beds have been brought to use at the CCC. Earlier, 360 beds were readied, of which 300 were oxygen-supported. Now, 504 new beds have been brought to use. Of them, 500 are oxygen-supported. At present, 203 patients are undergoing treatment at the centre,” he said.
Across the State, several beds with oxygen concentrators had been set up in urban and rural areas, he said. “The CCC at Chennai Trade Centre is the largest facility where oxygen is supplied through pipelines.”
Though the number of fresh COVID-19 cases were coming down, additional beds were being set up as a precautionary measure, he said. More beds were added in districts such as Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode.
On the charge of under-reporting of deaths, Mr. Subramanian said, “During our visits [to several districts] and meetings with officials, we have stressed that not a single death be hidden. There is no use in hiding a death. People should be informed of the actual number of deaths so that they will be cautious and follow safety norms... The government is functioning transparently, and has no need to under-report deaths.”
