Villupuram MP raises doubts on quantum of vax doses procured

Earlier in the day, Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar said in a tweet that two lakh doses of Covishield shipped by Serum Institute would arrive in Chennai by Friday noon. He said a team was working round the clock to ensure vaccines were supplied to all the centres even in remotest villages of the State.

Responding to this, Ravikumar said: “Two lakh doses of the vaccine will not be sufficient for a single day when the actual demand for vaccinating people above the age of 45 in a single district is around 4 lakh doses.”

Vijaya Baskar’s tweet triggered questions as to how two lakh doses would be sufficient for a State like Tamil Nadu that has a huge demand for vaccines after the coverage was expanded to include all aged above 18 years.

Ravikumar referred to Karnataka government’s step to place order for one crore vaccine doses and asked what Tamil Nadu government was doing to address the deficit.