Covid vaccination drive may be affected in TN due to lack of stock

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s vaccination drive against Covid-19 will be affected in several districts on Tuesday as the State has only around 50,000 doses left as on Monday night. As the State is scheduled to receive a fresh supply from the Union government only on July 11, officials have asked the Health Ministry to send doses in advance. According to an official, the vaccination drive will be affected in Chennai as well. “In several districts, there are only 10 to 20 doses left. We will give priority to people who come for a second dose on Tuesday, but won’t stop those coming for vaccination.”

Speaking to Express, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said, “We had only residual stock on Monday. We have spoken to the Union government to send the stock soon though the next supply schedule is only on July 11.” The officials also said special vaccination camps scheduled for Tuesday will be affected. The State vaccinated 1,37,482 people on the day. Till date, it has vaccinated as many as 1.58 crore people, from the 1,57,76,550 vaccines received from the Centre. The July allocation for the State is 71 lakh, but so far, only 10 lakh doses have arrived. The remaining is yet to be dispatched. 

Speaking to reporters recently, Health Minister Ma Subramanian had said the State has the facility to vaccinate around eight lakh people per day but due to lack of supply, they could not vaccinate more people. Though many people, including tribals are willing to get vaccinated, the State didn’t have enough stock.Tamil Nadu last received six lakh doses of Covishield from the Centre on July 1 and it was distributed to districts. The State also started vaccinating pregnant women and also lactating mothers recently. The vaccination drive had to stopped in several districts earlier as well due to lack of stock.

Meanwhile, Madurai district has been out of stock of Covaxin for about a week now, leaving those awaiting the second dose anxious. Covaxin, which is administered in two doses with an interval of four-to-six weeks, was last received by the District Vaccine Store (DVS) on June 23, said sources in the district Health department. The 7,040 doses given to the district were administered by June 29, they added.A 64-year-old resident of Thirunagar stated that she had checked with at least half a dozen vaccination centres within the city in the past four days, but her efforts were in vain. Five weeks have passed since the sexagenarian received the first dose.