Tamil Nadu readies anticipatory Covid-19 vaccination plan; warehouses can store 2.5 crore doses

“Our next priority after first 2 categories will be elderly and people above 50 who have comorbidities," J Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary (Health), told Deccan Herald

Tamil Nadu is getting ready with an anticipatory vaccination plan by identifying 51 warehouses that will have the capacity to store 2.5 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine at any given time. The government has also prepared a list of five lakh health care workers who are likely to be the first to get vaccinated once the Centre begins distributing the vaccine to states.

The vaccination will be carried out in a phased manner with healthcare workers, and frontline staff on the priority list.

Read: Can I stop wearing mask after getting a Covid-19 vaccine?

“What we have devised now is an anticipatory vaccination plan and a lot of fine-tuning will be done once the Centre starts distributing the vaccine doses to states. We are keeping the warehouses and facilities ready for the vaccination drive,” J Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary (Health), told Deccan Herald, adding that the plan is being done based on Centre’s guidelines from time to time.

He said the government has identified 5 lakh healthcare workers, while the number of frontline workers who would be next on the priority list will be five to ten times higher than the above number.

“Our next priority after the first two categories will be elderly and people above 50 who have comorbidities. This is how we plan to carry out the vaccination drive. Things also depend on the number of doses we get though we can store 2.5 crore vaccination does in our 51 warehouses that have been identified,” he added.

Also Read | Covid-19 vaccine: What does DCGI seek from Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech?

Sources said the state has identified over 40,000 centres where vaccination will be given to the people identified by the district administration and other agencies.

“The plan for the vaccination programme is being prepared in consultation with district authorities who will play a major role in implementing it. There will be systematic planning for the distribution of the vaccine like we did for pulse polio. We have enough expertise," the official said.

The number of Covid-19 positive cases in Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a downward trend in the past one month. At last count on Thursday morning, Tamil Nadu had just 10,491 active cases. The number of people tested positive so far is 7,94,020 including 7,71,693 recoveries and 11,836 deaths.