CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has advised collectors of popular pilgrimage centres to ensure everyone in these regions get vaccinated before July-end. This includes people residing in Velankanni, Rameshwaram, Nagore and Thiruvannamalai.
This initiative follows the state government's earlier measures to focus on segments such as lactating mothers, disabled people and traders. Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a vaccination camp in Chennai, health minister Ma Subramanian said 100% of tribal people in Nilgiris district and tea estate workers have been vaccinated.
On the vaccination front, he said till date the government had received 1,80,31,670 doses and 1,79,21,518 people were vaccinated. On Sunday, 82,009 were vaccinated. "We have 4,76,880 vials in stock (including the additional doses received)," he added. The minister rejected claims by opposition leaders on vaccine wastage. "After three lakh doses were wasted during the former AIADMK rule, we have managed to save seven lakh vials. Even during the recent virtual interaction of Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) with chief ministers, Union health minister (Mansukh Mandaviya) praised the state government on handling the vaccines and also in vaccinating people", he said.
In Tamil Nadu, 2,079 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. Daily cases are expected to go below the 2,000-mark in a couple of days, experts say. Coimbatore once again topped the infection chart with 220 new cases. Chennai witnessed a marginal increase in daily new cases (150). Cases continue to decline in Trichy (76) and Madurai (27).
The number of deaths due to Covid-19 has been on the decline for the fourth consecutive day in TN. It fell below the 30-mark after 94 days on Sunday. With 29 more deaths, the state's cumulative death toll increased to 33,418 -- third highest in the country next to Maharashtra (1,27,031) and Karnataka (36,157). No deaths were reported in 20 districts. But TN's case fatality ratio continues to hover around 1.3% for more than a month now. This means that for every 100 confirmed cases, at least one person passed away from the virus.
