Rains dampen anti-Covid vaccination drive in Tamil Nadu

As rains have inundated many parts of Chennai since past Sunday, the vaccination drive has taken a beating and the state health department is planning mega vaccination camps to vaccinate those who are yet to take the first dose.

Also, many who were scheduled for their second doses of vaccine have also not inoculated themselves.

However, the mega vaccination camp on Sunday at 50,000 places is expected to raise the number of vaccines, said health department officials.

The state health department is expecting 1.6 crore people to take the first dose of the vaccine by November end and vaccination camps are planned in such a manner to make this possible.

According to state health department officials, in addition to the 1.6 crore people who are yet to take the vaccines, the state has 70 lakh people who are eligible for the second dose of the vaccine.

The number of vaccinations, however, picked up in the past two days with Friday recording 3.4 lakh vaccinations and Saturday having 3.5 lakh people getting inoculated.

The rains and festivals have dampened the vaccination drive and the state would need to vaccinate 8.2 lakh people to achieve its target to vaccinate the whole population with the first dose of vaccine by November end.

The state health department is planning to vaccinate 30 lakh people in mega vaccination drives.