Chennai: Amid rise in Covid cases and the threat posed by the hihgly transmissible Omicron variant, Tamilnadu Chief Minister M K Stalin today launched administering booster dose vaccine for people above 60 years of age with comorbidities and frontline workers.

Stalin launched the vaccine drive at the Image Auditorium in MRC Nagar, in which State Health Minister Ma.Subramanian, Health Secretary
Dr J Radhakrishan and other officials took part.

A total of 36.26 lakh persons are eligible for the ‘precaution’ dose. They included 5.65 lakh healthcare workers, 9.78 lakh frontline workers; and
about 20.83 lakh persons aged above 60 with co-morbidities.

All those who have received their second dose of 19 vaccination during February to May 2021 are eligible to get the ‘precaution’ dose before
January 31 depending on the completion of 39 weeks (273 days) after the second dose of vaccination.

Four lakh persons will be eligible for the booster vaccine dose on the first day of its administration today, according to Director of Public Health
T S Selvavinayagam.

He said in the whole of January, 10.7 lakh persons can get their booster doses.

The beneficiaries include 2.7 lakh frontline workers, 2.7 lakh healthcare workers and five lakh people aged above 60.

As per the statistics and the guidelines provided by the Union government, 9.1 lakh beneficiaries will be administered Covishield and 1.5 lakh persons wil get Covaxin,”he said.

Dr Selvavinayagam said as on date, the State government has a stock 71 lakh doses of vaccines.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stressed the importance of administering the precaution dose in the wake of highly transmissible and fast spreading
variant of SARS-CoV-2, which has been posing a tough challenge for the state governments to contain its spread.

During the last one week there has been a rapid increase in the daily caseload in Tamilnadu. A total of  12,895 fresh cases were reported among 1,47,705 people tested on Sunday, with the State Capital of Chennai turning out to be the hotspot recording nearly 50 per cent of the cases (6,186 ).

As on date, 185 persons were infected with the Omicron variant of the novel
coronavirus. They include six cases cross-notified to Kerala (1), Puducherry (3) and Andhra Pradesh (2). So far, 179 persons have been declared to have recovered.

Last Monday, Stalin launched the vaccination drive for those in 15-18 age group.