3,030 gets vaccinated in Tamil Nadu on Day-2 even as many resist the jab

Meanwhile, State reports 589 new Covid-19 cases past 24 hours, 164 from Chennai alone

On Day-2 of the vaccination drive in Tamil Nadu, a total of 3,030 individuals were administered the Covid-19 vaccine today, of which 2,847 of them got Covishield and 183 got Covaxin. 

The State created a capacity of 14,460 jabs of Covishield and 600 of Covaxin.

The highest turnout was in Chennai, where 482 people were vaccinated, while capacity was created for 1,200 jabs of Covishield, followed by Coimbatore where 245 people were vaccinated while capacity was created for 300.

Meanwhile the state reported 589 new Covid-19 cases during the past 24 hours, 164 of which were from Chennai.

Across the State, 51,956 persons were tested today, while 770 patients were discharged and seven died.

The total number of cases stands at 830,772 cases, of which 812,568 have been discharged and 12,264 have died so far. 

The turnout for vaccination remains low on Day-2 at major vaccination centres due to lack of confidence and long holidays.

On the Day-1, some 2,684 healthcare workers got vaccinated across the state, while capacity was created for 16,000 people.

On Sunday, at the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Government Estate in Chennai, the turnout was very low since morning, and only a handful of people entered the vaccination centre, which can handle 100 people.

Around noon, a few medical students turned up to get vaccinated, one of whom said that they did not register their names directly. It was the seniors who took the names and registered on behalf of students in bulk. They were given Serum Institute of India’s Covishield after giving consent.

At Salem Government hospital, only six people took the vaccine till noon.

Unlike Maharashtra and other places, where technical glitches were reported, Tamil Nadu did not report any such issue. 

Sources in the hospitals have said that the confidence level is still very low among masses.

To instil confidence, top doctors, including State Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, got vaccinated today. Radhakrishnan was sure the drive would pick up gradually.

He said it was observed that more staff refrained from vaccination at the secondary healthcare institutions than in the primary healthcare institutions.

“We don’t go by a daily vaccination target. Our vaccination drive is based on demand,” said Dr Radhakrishnan, adding that top doctors took the vaccine on Day-1 while the health department would expand the drive in the coming days.

“Our main focus on Day-1 was to ensure there were no adverse effects and we are not pressured by the daily target approach," he said.

Government Stanley Hospital's Dean, P Balaji, said many staff have gone to their native places to celebrate Pongal and from Monday onwards more healthcare frontline workers will get the jab. 

At Stanley they managed to vaccinate only two out of the 25 registered nurses, while the rest refrained. Some of those who refrained said that they want to wait till the other doctors get vaccinated, while some said they were facing pressure from families to not get the jab.

An official from one of the Government hospitals said several people, expressing apprehensions about the vaccines, decided to wait and watch before taking a decision. Some even switched off their phones. The hesitancy is mainly due to the fear about safety and the fact that these vaccines came about at such a short span of time.

In Tamil Nadu, 16.8 per cent of healthcare providers took the Covid-19 vaccine on the first day of immunisation on January 16. The State has the capacity to vaccinate 16,600 people a day but only 2,783 got the shot on January 16 — the most in Chennai (348) and the least in Perambalur (2). 

Vaccination was launched at 166 centres — the Serum Institute of India’s Covishield at 160 centres and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin at six. 

Each centre has the capacity to vaccinate 100 persons a day. A total of 2,684 of the planned 16,000 persons took Covishield, while 99 of 600 persons opted for Covaxin.

In fact, two of the six centres that rolled out Covaxin — Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital and the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital, Tiruchi — had no takers. No adverse event after immunisation was reported.