The COVID-19 vaccine stock in Tamil Nadu will last only until Tuesday, after which the state government is expected to receive its vaccine consignment only by June 6, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said on Monday, May 31. He indicated that once the existing stock of vaccines gets over, the state can resume its vaccination only after it receives its next consignment of doses, which is scheduled to arrive from Bharat Biotech by June 6 and from the Serum Institute of India by June 9. As of Monday morning, Tamil Nadu has around 4.93 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Radhakrishnan said that if the state continues to vaccinate its people in the same speed of the past 2-3 days, then the existing stock of vaccines will get over by Tuesday. “The Union government has allocated 20.43 doses for May and we have received 18.68 lakh doses. As of Monday, we have to get 1.74 lakh doses from May’s allotment. We are not sure when it will reach Tamil Nadu. We have been told that it will be sent in a couple of days,” he said. Tamil Nadu has received 96.18 lakh doses of vaccines till date, which has been used to vaccinate 87.70 lakh people across age groups.
“In June, we were informed that the Union government will allocate 42.58 lakh doses. The only catch in this is that the first consignment in this allotment will reach Tamil Nadu only by June 6. The next supply will reach by June 9,” he added.
As of Sunday, 11.97 lakh people in the 18-44 age group have been vaccinated in Tamil Nadu. A total of 31.71 lakh people in the 45-60 age group and 25.35 lakh persons above the age of 60 have been vaccinated against COVID-19, as per data provided by the state Department of Health and Family Welfare.