Tamil Nadu gets Rs 800 crore from Centre to manage, prevent Covid waves

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 800 crore to Tamil Nadu as part of Covid-19 relief package for managing second wave of the infection and preventing third wave, health minister Ma Subramanian said on Thursday.
Subramanian was speaking to reporters after meeting Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi. The state had demanded Rs 1,500 crore for management and prevention of the epidemic, he said. “They immediately granted Rs 800 crore. After we utilize this, the Centre will review our proposal and release more funds,” he said.
Pointing to the Tamil Nadu’s demand for more vaccines, the minister said, “We need at least 12 crore doses of vaccine, but we have so far received just 1.7 crore doses.” Chief minister M K Stalin has already written to the PM seeking a special allocation of 1 crore doses to correct the imbalance in vaccine allocation to the state, he said. “More people are queuing up for the shots and there is no wastage of vaccine now,” he said.
The state has also asked for additional allotment of drugs for treating mucormycosis (black fungus). “We have nearly 4,000 fungal infection cases across the state. We may need more drugs for early treatment of the infection and to prevent deaths. The drugs allotted to the state are also given to private hospitals when they are in need,” Ma Subramanian said.