A total of 852 people have been given the first dose of the vaccine and 600 have been administered with the second dose of the vaccine. “We conduct vaccination camps along with Greater Chennai Corporation officials and the pharmacy department procures vaccines based on the number of individuals to be vaccinated,” said Dr Poorna Chandrika, director of the Institute of Mental Health. 

The vaccination of homeless mentally challenged people was a challenge as only inmates were being vaccinated and many others do not have any identity certificates. Along with the support of the Department of Welfare of Differently abled persons, the vaccination drive is also being conducted for homeless mentally challenged people at the Institute of Mental Health. 

The homeless are also being brought by the local police and other organisations to be admitted to the institute and many of them, who are brought newly as inmates, are also being vaccinated, say officials. 

“Even if there are batches of just 10 people, we conduct the camps and vaccinate the inmates when there are adequate number of people to vaccinate in a single batch. Since there are logistical challenges to vaccinate the inmates and mentally challenged individuals at other hospitals, we conduct separate vaccination camps,” said Dr Poorna.