In 70 days of the DMK regime, 1,12,90,767 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, as against 63,28,407 in 103 days since the drive was rolled out when the AIADMK was in power, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said on Saturday.
Replying to Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s demand for a White Paper on the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses supplied, administered and wasted, he said that so far, the State had received 1,80,32,170 doses. These included three lakh doses that arrived on Saturday evening and 29.22 lakh directly purchased by the State for ₹99.84 crore.
“Of these, 1,76,19,174 doses have been administered. As of now, we have 7,15,570 doses in hand,” he told reporters.
He wondered why the Opposition Leader demanded a White Paper, as details of vaccines supplied and administered were being provided at least twice a day, and reported by the media daily .
“We did not want to politicise this issue. Now we have no other way, as the Leader of the Opposition has demanded a White Paper. Vaccination was rolled out on January 16, 2021. In 103 days, till the DMK took over on May 7, 63,28,407 doses were administered. From May 7 to date — a span of 70 days — we have administered 1,12,90,767 doses,” he said.
When Mr. Palaniswami was the Chief Minister, the daily average of people getting jabs was 61,441, he said, adding, “After the DMK came to power, due increase in awareness, the daily average has come up to 1,61,297.” Pointing out another clarification sought on the number of people who had taken the first dose and the second, he said 1,43,51,536 people had taken the first dose and 32,67,638 the second.
“During your regime, there was no vaccine shortage. If you had asked the Union government, they would have been ready to give more doses. Vaccines were lying in godowns during those 103 days. You could have got two to three crore doses, but you did not pay attention, and neither the Health Department take the initiative to do so,” he told Mr. Palaniswami. It was only after May 7 that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote letters and spoke to the Prime Minister seeking more doses, he said. The Minister said vaccines supplied were immediately distributed to the districts.
During the AIADMK government, 6% vaccines supplied were wasted, he said, adding that this amounted to 4,34,838 doses. “But we have administered over seven lakh additional doses. This is not magic.According to the WHO, there is a factor called overfill, in which the dosage in a vial can be more than 5 ml, ranging from 5.8 ml to 6 ml,” he said.
He added that if the Leader of the Opposition was not happy with his reply, they were ready to hand over a White Paper during the Budget session. “We are ready to give a White Paper on the vaccines wasted due to the AIADMK’s incompetent administration,” he stated.
He said Mr. Palaniswami did not take any measures to operationalise two vaccine manufacturing units in the State — HLL Biotech in Chengalpattu and the Pasteur Institute in Coonoor — despite having “cordial relations” with the ruling BJP at the Centre. “We have medical infrastructure to administer two crore vaccines a month,” he added.
