Stalin writes to Modi seeking 5 million more Covid-19 vaccine doses per week to conduct regular mega camps | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Stalin writes to Modi seeking 5 million more Covid-19 vaccine doses per week to conduct regular mega camps

Written by Srivatsan K C | Edited by Avik Roy, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Sep 20, 2021 04:13 PM IST

“In our estimation, the state is easily capable of utilising 50 lakh vaccine doses every week,” the Tamil Nadu chief minister wrote, saying that in a week five lakh doses could be administered every day for six days and 20 lakh doses for a mega camp on the seventh day.

Following two mega Covid-19 vaccination camps across Tamil Nadu, chief minister MK Stalin on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for increased weekly vaccine supply to the state. Stalin has demanded an additional 5 million doses to the state, every week, citing Tamil Nadu’s capability to utilise those vaccines and also to achieve the target of covering all eligible but unvaccinated population by October 31 this year.

Tamil Nadu has so far administered 43,003,500 doses of the vaccine. In picture - A health worker administers a dose of the Covishield vaccine at a vaccination camp in Chennai.(AFP)
Tamil Nadu has so far administered 43,003,500 doses of the vaccine. In picture - A health worker administers a dose of the Covishield vaccine at a vaccination camp in Chennai.(AFP)

“In our estimation, the state is easily capable of utilising 50 lakh vaccine doses every week,” the Tamil Nadu chief minister wrote, saying that in a week five lakh doses could be administered every day for six days and 20 lakh doses for a mega camp on the seventh day. “I hence request you to kindly facilitate in providing the additional doses of 50 lakh Covid vaccines to the state along with equal number of 0.5 ml of AD syringes or 1 ml/ 2 ml syringes to the state every week,” he further wrote.

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Stalin said he has directed his state officials to coordinate with the Union ministry of health and family welfare to provide all necessary information to get the additional number of doses to the state.

The letter follows two mega vaccination camps, alongside the regular daily vaccinations, were organised in the state earlier this month. According to the chief minister, the camp on September 12 saw 28.91 lakh eligible people being vaccinated while the camp on September 19 helped vaccinate 16.43 lakh people.

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“The State has crossed 4 crore vaccinations and has administered over a crore dose in the first 19 days of this month,” he said. However, due to the lower per capita vaccine allocation to the state, it remained below the national average of vaccinations despite such an increase in its pace, Stalin also said.

Stalin said that Tamil Nadu continued to remain below the national average because of the “inadequate pace” of the vaccination drive in the first four months in the state and since his government took over in May this year, the supplies of the vaccine doses received by the state were being exhausted within two or three days of reception.

According to the Union health ministry’s data, Tamil Nadu has so far administered 43,003,500 doses of the vaccine, including 33,726,820 first doses and 9,276,680 second doses as of 7am on the day.

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