Chennai: The Tamil Nadu health department is planning to launch a massive campaign that will see the participation of celebrities in an effort to increase the Covid-19 booster dose coverage in the state.
Currently, only 27 percent of the state’s total population has been inoculated with the booster shot.
The state government had provided free Covid-19 booster shots till September 30.
Speaking about the upcoming campaign, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian told IANS that the state government has already written to the Centre requesting more booster vaccines.
“After the massive promotions, we expect the booster dose coverage to improve in the state,” he added.
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He also said that the state has achieved 92 percent coverage of the second dose against Covid-19 and that it was primarily due to the hard work put in by the doctors, nurses, and other allied staff of the health department, volunteers, and social workers across the state.
The health department, according to sources has chalked out a clear roadmap for improving the booster vaccine drive in the state to prevent any further escalation of Covid-19.
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Dr. Suchithra Menon, a health specialist at a private medical college in Chennai, told IANS: “The state government’s initiative is good and there has to be good coverage of booster dose among the population to keep the disease at bay. The health department promoting the booster dose vaccine will fetch results as it is seen in the 92 per cent coverage of the second dose of vaccine.”
However, the number of coronavirus cases has come down in Chennai. On Thursday, Tamil Nadu recorded 404 coronavirus cases. It also witnessed 504 persons recovering from infection.