Tamil Nadu to hold 30,000 camps for the largest vaccination drive today

Chennai: The largest ever vaccination drive in Tamil Nadu will get underway on October 10 in 30,000 camps, in a bid to inoculate 70 per cent of the population, as per the safe standards prescribed by the World Health Organisation, state health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Tuesday.

This exercise would be part of the fifth edition of the mega vaccination camps held by the health department state wide every Sunday since September 12 in over 20,000 areas, he told reporters here.

The October 10 drive would be the highest ever in terms of vaccination camps as 30,000 such facilities would be set up across the state, he said.

"Currently we have about 24 lakh vaccine doses in stock and expect another nine lakh to be sent from the Centre, totaling 33 lakh. By Saturday evening we expect to have 25 lakh vaccines to conduct the fifth Mega Vaccination Camp," he said.

The Minister said 64 per cent of Tamil Nadu's population have received the first dose and 22 per cent, the second shot. "To reach 70 per cent of the populace as per the safe standards of WHO, we expect to reach that figure by October end", he said.

In view of the vaccination camp on Sundays, Chief Minister M K Stalin has issued orders to declare a holiday for the nurses on Mondays, he said.

"Health department principal secretary (J Radhakrishnan) has issued a circular to Collectors, stating that if nurses (who worked during the Mega Vaccination Camps) need to work on Mondays, they can take a holiday on any day of a week", he said.

After inspecting the Institute of Child Health and Hospital in the city, Subramanian said 449 babies of the 493 treated for dengue have been discharged after recovery. "Currently, 41 children are being treated now and they are doing well", he said.

Subramanian said the Institute of Child Health and Hospital and private health care provider Global Hospitals have agreed to treat children requiring lung transplantation.

Parents of children needing such treatment can make use of the Chief Ministers' Health Insurance scheme, he said, adding a lung transplant for a child at a private health care would cost about Rs 10 lakh.

On the 'pneumococcal conjugate' vaccination to young children, he said 1.27 lakh infants across the state have so far received the jabs from the facility at Poonamallee area and the plan was to administer it to 9.23 lakh babies.