CHENNAI: Starting Tuesday, medical teams will travel to villages in Tamil Nadu, identify people, who have not yet taken Covid-19 vaccination, and inoculate them at their doorsteps, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian.
The health minister would launch the initiative at six villages in Chengalpattu district on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters after welcoming students at a school on Monday, Subramanian said the vaccination drive had slowed down on weekdays.
So apart from conducting mega vaccination camps, starting Tuesday, a medical team, including a doctor, nurse, and other staff, will travel to villages, and vaccinate the eligible people, who are yet to take the dose, Subramanian said. There are around 80,000 villages in Tamil Nadu and all the villages will be covered. The Health Department is also planning for the mega camp this coming weekend. As many as 10 mega camps will be conducted, the minister added.
Soon, school students will also be encouraged to raise awareness among their parents to get the Covid-19 jab, said Subramanian. As of now, there is no plan for relaxation of travel restrictions at Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh borders due to the new variant (AY.4.2) cases being reported in the neighbouring states. “If the Union Health Ministry and ICMR give the nod for vaccinating people below 18 years, then Tamil Nadu will immediately start inoculating them,” the minister said.
At a residential school hostel in Tiruppur, two class 10 students exhibited symptoms of Covid. When they were tested, the report came positive. As many as 115 contacts of the students were tested and among them, 13 students tested positive. They are asymptomatic. Since many children testing positive are asymptomatic, there is nothing to worry about, said Subramanian.
Fifteen students test Covid +ve in Sainik school
Tiruppur: Fifteen students of Sainik School Amaravathinagar in Udumalaipet tested positive for Covid-19. Sources said officials took samples from a few students studying in classes 10 and 12 and 15 students tested positive. Since they only had mild infections, they were isolated in the hostel rooms. A team of health workers from the local PHC in Udumalaipet would be monitoring them. Meanwhile, swab samples will be taken from 100 students and classes will remain closed for the next two weeks