CHENNAI: To prevent pneumonia deaths among children, Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Tuesday launched Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccination drive for those aged below five years. The Health Department aims to cover around 9.23 lakh children in Tamil Nadu under the initiative. As many as 21 States in the country have commenced administering this vaccine to kids.
Speaking at the launch event at Urban Primary Health Centre in Poonamallee, the Health Minister said, “In India, around 12 lakh children under five years die due to pneumococcal diseases every year. The vaccine should be administered in three doses.
The first dose should be given when the baby is one and-a-half year of age, second dose at three and-a-half years, and the last dose after nine months. Private hospitals are charging around `4,000 for one dose of the vaccine, but the government is providing them free of cost.” Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan and other Health Department officials were present on the occasion.
‘More Covid vax doses arrive’
The State would get additional one lakh doses of Covaxin and one-and-a-half lakh doses of Covishield from the Union Government on Tuesday, the Health Minister said. So far the State has received over 1.67 crore doses, and 1.66 crore people have received the jab. The State also has stock of 3.96 vials at present, apart from the additional doses that are expected on Tuesday.
“The Health Secretary and I will leave for New Delhi on Wednesday, and meet Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya the next day for requesting higher allocation of vaccine doses to Tamil Nadu. We will also seek permission to commence works for the 11 new medical colleges this year itself,” Subramanian added.