After two successful mega vaccination drives conducted on September 12 and 19, the inoculation drive in Tamil Nadu has been hit by the shortage of vaccines.

The state did not conduct any vaccinations on Monday and Tuesday.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has already written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi apprising him of the urgent need for vaccines to the state and has requested 50 lakh vaccines a week. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has informed the Prime Minister that if the state receives a supply of 50 lakh vaccines a week, it can inoculate the entire 6.06 crore population with at least one dose of vaccine by the end of October.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Tuesday opposed the Union health minister’s policy of exporting vaccines and has said that this was not correct as several states have yet to inoculate their population.

The Public health department of Tamil Nadu has already informed the state Chief Minister and the health minister that it has the capacity and infrastructure to administer 6 lakh doses of vaccines per day and that it has successfully proved that through the mega vaccination camps.

It may be noted that even after two successful mega vaccination drives, Tamil Nadu is one state that has not yet vaccinated one crore people with both doses of the jab.

According to data available from the state public health department, Tamil Nadu has vaccinated only 93.59 lakh of its eligible population with both the doses of the vaccine for a population of 6.06 crore population. This brings up a situation wherein the state has vaccinated only 15 per cent of its eligible population with both doses of the vaccine.

The state health department officials said that they are expecting an allotment of vaccines by Wednesday. The state is also expecting the allotment of 50 lakh vaccines that the Chief Minister has requested to the Prime Minister.

A senior official of the state public health department said, “If we get at least 30 lakh doses per week as against the 50 lakh requested by the Chief Minister, we would be able to inoculate the entire state by this year-end with at least one dose of the vaccine.”

With the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) warning on the possibilities of a third wave of the pandemic and with schools and colleges in the state open, Tamil Nadu health department does not want to take any risks.