The district administration said that of the 5.28 lakh adult population above the age of 18 in the district, 2 lakh adults have been administered the first dose of the vaccine, amounting to 34 per cent of the population.

 

In a press statement, the administration said that its plan is to procure enough vaccines and to inoculate the entire adult population of the district to become the first district in the country to vaccinate its entire adult resident population.

 

The administration is aiming at this milestone as the district has comparatively a smaller population and hence, the target is achievable.

 

State Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian was on a visit to the district and it was decided that steps to be taken to vaccinate the entire tribal population of the district before June end.  

 

The district administration is planning to vaccinate the entire tribal community once enough vaccines arrive.

 

Tea workers of Nilgiris are an another priority group which the administration is aiming to inoculate and according to the district health officials, almost 80 percent of them were given at least a single dose of the vaccine.

 

Talking to IANS, Nilgiris Collector Innocent Divya said: "Our first priority is to vaccinate the total tribal population and we expect to achieve it by June end. Health Minister Thiru Ma Subramanian was in the district and he has promised to provide us the total vaccines required to inoculate the entire adult population of the district."

 

"Nilgris is a small district and if we could achieve 100 percent vaccination of the adult population in this district, then it will be a major achievement and the state government will be considering this as a model for the state to be replicated. If a third wave comes up, we could monitor whether the virus is eradicated after 100 percent vaccination of the adult populace in the district," she added.