CHENNAI: Though 80 per cent of frontline workers took the first dose of Covid vaccine, only 37 per cent received the second dose. Healthcare and other frontline workers who have not taken their second dose should come forward and take it, said Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan on Wednesday. He also said that his department was preparing a list of those who received the first dose Radhakrishnan was speaking to media persons after inaugurating Vinita Hospital Kidney Super-Specialty Centre, a not-for-profit preventive care centre by eminent nephrologist Dr Sarita Vinod.
Vaccination profile so far
Among the States in the country, Tamil Nadu vaccinated most pregnant women -- 1.72 lakh. The State vaccinated 1.39 lakh lactating mothers as well. Of the 2.45 crore doses it received so far, 2.25 crore shots were sent to government hospitals and 19.87 lakh shots to private hospitals. So far, the State vaccinated 2.36 crore people.
Currently, Tamil Nadu has 9.94 lakh shots in government stock and 3.89 lakh shots in private stock. The August allocation of vaccines is 79 lakh. In certain districts like Coimbatore and Chennai, response has been good, but in districts like Thoothukudi, there are fewer takers, the health secretary said.
The Central government didn’t allocate the vaccines in the first four months based on the State population; that should be compensated. The Centre would also allocate additional vaccines after monitoring the use by the State this month, Radhakrishnan said. In four to five districts, there is an increase in cases while in other districts the cases are stagnant, he added.
Firms asked to take back drugs
About a letter by the Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation (TNMSC) to drug companies asking them to take back substandard drugs, the health secretary said that TNMSC maintains a strict quality-control mechanism. It is a routine procedure to return drugs to manufacturers if standards are not met. Every batch of vaccine shots also goes for quality testing.
He added that the health department, so far, took action against 96 private hospitals for overcharging Covid patients. He requested the people to alert the department when a patient is charged over the government-fixed cap.