Amid fears of a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Tamil Nadu is fast-tracking its vaccination drive by launching round-the-clock vaccination centres across the state from Monday, while the civic body in the capital Chennai is administering jabs to those above the age of 80 at their homes.
The first of the 24/7 vaccination centres have come up at the Directorate of Medical Services (DMS) campus here where anyone with an identity card can walk in and get a jab after a mandatory basic health check by the health workers. Similar centres will start functioning at five more major government hospitals in Chennai – RGGGH, Omandurar, Stanley, Royapettah, and Kilpauk – from Monday.
Health Minister Ma Subramanian said all government medical colleges in the state will have 24/7 vaccination centres from Monday. Districts that do not have a medical college will get their round-the-clock vaccination centres at district hospitals.
“All round-the-clock vaccination centres will start functioning from Monday. This move is aimed at ensuring that people who travel and work till late in the night get vaccinated. District health officials have been asked to deploy enough staff to administer jabs to people who can walk in anytime,” Subramanian said.
He said the names and mobile numbers of the health staff who will man the 24/7 centres will be displayed prominently at the hospitals. The move, according to the health department, will result in an increase in the number of people getting vaccinated in the state.
As of August 21, Tamil Nadu has administered 26.1 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines of which 19.36 lakh are from the private sector. The state needs another 9 crore doses to vaccinate the remaining of the eligible population. Subramanian also came up with a novel idea of asking corporates to use their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to buy vaccines from private hospitals and administer them to people free of cost.
The Greater Chennai Corporation, which received laurels for getting different abled vaccinated at their homes, on Sunday launched an initiative to administer vaccines to people above 80 years of age in their homes. Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru and GCC Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi flagged off 15 vehicles that are to be used by health workers to vaccinate the elderly at their homes.
Officials said the GCC has so far administered 35.68 lakh doses in the city. Of these, 25.14 lakh persons received their first dose, while 10.54 lakh persons received both doses.