Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian to meet Harsh Vardhan on Friday over vaccine shortage

CHENNAI: Vaccine stock came to near zero in several districts across Tamil Nadu on Tuesday evening. In the morning, the state was left with just 60,000 doses of the vaccine. By evening, the state vaccinated 51,532 people. The immunisation wing said fresh stocks were expected on July 11 as per schedule.
“It is an irony that when people have shed hesitancy and are queuing up for the vaccine, we don’t have them,” said health minister Ma Subramanian, who is to meet Union minister Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi on Friday. The agenda for the meeting includes discussions on issues such as vaccine shortage, admissions for MBBS courses in AIIMS, Madurai, and 11 new medical colleges. “We will discuss the options of temporary accommodation for medical students admitted to AIIMS, Madurai, and need to start vaccine manufacturing units at IVC in Chengalpet and Pasteur Institute in Nilgiris,” he said.
So far, 1.57 crore doses have been allotted to the state. By Monday evening, the state had used 1.58 crore doses, the minister said. By Tuesday, this was revised to 1.59 crore doses. The state has 6.06 crore people above the age of 18, who require 12.12 crore doses of vaccine. While more than 21% of the eligible population have taken at least one dose, only 5% of the population across the state are fully vaccinated.
In February, Tamil Nadu was accused of wasting up to four lakh doses of the vaccine. “This wastage happened in the AIADMK regime. Now, two things have changed the situation. More people come for vaccination now. Second, vaccinators are now more careful about wastage,” the health minister said. “Earlier they would open a vial even if there are four people and nearly six doses will be wasted. Now, they use up to 12 doses from a vial.”
With this the state not only made up for the wastage, but also saved up to 1.4 lakh doses, Subramanian added.