60K get booster jabs in 1st mega drive

The special vaccination camp for the administration of the booster doses was inaugurated at the government hospital in Poonamallee in Tiruvallur by Health Minister Ma Subramanian. After the booster dose vaccination began in the State on January 10, 2022, the special vaccination camps have been planned to be organised every Thursday as the booster dose witnessed a slow pace in Tamil Nadu.

The Health Minister said till now, 1,62,631 booster doses have been administered, while there are 5,52,754 people eligible for the same. By the end of January, the number of eligible people is likely to cross 10 lakh. It is the first time in India that any State has special camps for booster doses administration.

“Apart from this, mega vaccination camp will be organised at 50,000 vaccination sites and every week, 15-30 lakh people are vaccinated with the help of mega vaccination camps. So far, 3,32,64,751 people have been vaccinated through the mega vaccination drive. The next mega vaccination drive is scheduled on Saturday,” the Health Minister said.

Talking about the vaccination coverage in Tiruvallur district, he said the vaccination coverage is good and 88.6 per cent first dose and 63.4 per cent second doses have been administered.

Regarding the vaccination of children aged 15-18 years, 75.6 per cent have received the jab in Tiruvallur.

He added that as anticipated, there is a rise in the cases of COVID-19 in the State after the Pongal holidays. “There were about 3,000 more cases recorded from the previous day on Wednesday and 1,500-2,000 more cases are expected to be recorded on Thursday than Wednesday’s count, he added.