DMK President MK Stalin and VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan received their vaccine shots at private hospitals in Chennai on Tuesday. As part of the second phase of the vaccination drive, people above the age of 60 years and those above 45 years with comorbidities, are being administered vaccines at private and government hospitals.
Taking to social media, MK Stalin said, “I took the first shot of COVID-19 vaccination. I thank the scientific world for tirelessly and successfully giving us a vaccine within a short period. We all should continuously take efforts to maintain and protect our good health.”
Stalin was inoculated at Kauvery Hospital and his wife Durga was also present during the vaccination drive.
On Tuesday, Thol Thirumavalavan took his vaccination shot at a private hospital in Vadapalani. Thirumavalavan reportedly was injected with the Covishield vaccine.
On March 1, Tamil Nadu entered the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, where people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities began getting vaccinated. In addition to self-registration on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal, the Tamil Nadu government also allowed on-site walk-in registration. However, the type of vaccination — Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin or Serum Institute of India’s Covishield — will not be disclosed at the time of appointment.
The guidelines also said the beneficiaries can decide on the vaccination centre and the date where vacant slots are available. Following this, an appointment ticket will be generated using which the beneficiaries can take the vaccine. They will get their second dose of vaccine on the 29th day from the date of appointment of the first dose.
At the end of February, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Vijayabaskar said that the state has till now administered 3,59,000 doses of vaccine and it still has 14,85,000 vials of Covishield and 1,89,000 vials of Covaxin.
As of Monday, Tamil Nadu recorded 556 new coronavirus cases and three deaths. Chennai recorded the highest with 229 cases and Coimbatore recorded 48 cases. The state currently has 4,018 active cases.