CHENNAI: An administrative analysis of the 191 deaths due to COVID-19 from January 1 till 15 in Tamil Nadu, revealed that 68.5 per cent (131 out of 191) occurred among persons who were either not vaccinated or were partially vaccinated, director of public health Dr TS Selvavinayagam told reporters on Sunday.
On the day, the State reported another 22 deaths due to the viral infection, with 23,975 new cases reported. The number of active cases reached 1,42,476, of which 57,591 are in Chennai. Chennai reported 8,987 fresh cases on the day, while its neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram reported 2,701, 1,273 and 831 cases respectively.
Together the capital region accounted for 57.5 per cent of all new cases. Coimbatore, with 1,866 new cases, was the only other district reporting cases in the four figures. Interestingly, in Chennai, data as on Friday showed that 50,000 active cases were concentrated in just 8,000 out of the city's 39,537 streets.
Making an appeal to citizens to get vaccinated, Selvavinayagam said 85.3 per cent of deaths (163) were of people aged over 50. Of the deceased, 94.7 per cent (181) had a comorbidity. "Analysis of a combination of elderly patients with comorbidities, reveals that 159 out of 191, constituting 83.2 per cent of deaths happened in elderly persons with probably an uncontrolled comorbidity," he said.
He said that the analysis also showed that protective effect of vaccination "is often scuttled by uncontrolled comorbidities", an issue that requires case-by-case analysis.
He pointed out only 62 per cent of elders have received one dose of the vaccine and only 48 per cent the second dose, compared to 88.62 per cent and 64.23 per cent respectively among adults in TN. "It is advisable that elderly, unvaccinated patients having comorbidity need hospital-based care to prevent mortality," he said.
'Elders should take vaccines'
DPH Dr Selvavinayagam said elders must get vaccinated and take appropriate medicines to manage comorbidities to reduce mortality