TN govt withdraws order on compulsory Covid vax to visit public places

The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday withdrew its order mandating inoculation against COVID-19 for all the eligible population in the state, in view of decline in new infections.

According to department of public health and preventive medicine, though the compulsory vaccination notification has been withdrawn, other Covid-19 protocols would continue to be in place.

"In continuation of the reduction in Covid-19 cases in the state and lifting of all restrictions which were laid down to prevent COVID-19 by Government of India, and Tamil Nadu achieving a vaccination coverage of more than 92 per cent and 75 per cent of first and second dose respectively, for those above 18 years, it is decided to withdraw the notification issued under Tamil Nadu Public Health Act,1939 vide reference 9th cited with immediate effect," it said.

The government had issued the order in 2021.

With the withdrawal of notification, the health department directed the authorities to ensure that people are encouraged to follow COVID appropriate behaviour such as maintaining social distance, wearing of face masks, and avoiding crowd and keep creating awareness on the important role of vaccination.

".. persons who are eligible to get vaccinated and the respective first, second and booster dose, as the case may be, are encouraged to willingly come forward to take the doses," the notification said.

As of Saturday, Tamil Nadu's overall first dose coverage for those above 18 years was 92.31 per cent while second dose was 76.85 per cent. The total coverage of population stands at 10.51 crore, a bulletin said.