20,765 in Tamil Nadu get precaution dose on day 1

Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday launched the drive to administer the precaution dose for healthcare and frontline workers, and senior citizens with comorbidities, who have completed 39 weeks since taking the second dose.

According to Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine data, there are 35.46 lakh people in the State who are eligible to receive the third dose as of now, of which 9.78 lakh are frontline workers, 5.65 lakh healthcare workers and the remaining 20.03 lakh are those aged above 60 years with the comorbid conditions.

Up untill 7.30pm on Monday, 20,765 people had received the shot.

Of the total beneficiaries, 10,73,351 can receive it by the end of the month. Chennai has the highest number of eligible people, 2.96 lakh, while Coimbatore has 70,955 and Chengalpattu 45,053.

Stalin also announced the decision to expand the CM’s health insurance scheme for the next five years. It would cover over 1,090 treatments and surgeries that could be done free of cost at 714 government hospitals and 886 private hospitals. Under the scheme, 1.37 crore families can avail Rs 5 lakh per year for treatment.