Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin Wednesday launched a scheme to provide free Covid-19 vaccination doses at private hospitals in the state. The scheme, launched from Chennai’s Kauvery Hospital and claimed to be the first-of-its-kind in India, will be funded under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. On behalf of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a cheque of Rupees two crore and twenty lakh was handed over to Stalin Wednesday. இந்தியாவிலேயே முதன்முறையாக, இந்தியத் தொழிற் கூட்டமைப்பு மற்றும் தனியார் மருத்துவமனைகள் இணைந்து, தனியார் நிறுவனங்கள் மற்றும் தனியார் மருத்துவமனைகளின் #CSRfund மூலம் இலவச #CovidVaccine செலுத்தும் சேவையினை காவேரி மருத்துவமனையில் தொடங்கி வைத்தேன். pic.twitter.com/yMhbJGXcrl — M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) July 28, 2021 The initiative comes days after Health Minister Ma Subramanian held a meeting with companies and representatives of healthcare services across the state. A total of 137 representatives from various hospitals and industries from Chennai, Coimbatore, Kacheepuram, Vellore and Chengalpet had met Subramanian. After the meeting, Subramanian had told the media that the vaccination programme will be rolled out on July 28 and gradually expanded to other cities. He had also said people are not showing interest in paying a price to get vaccinated and the initiative will encourage more people to get vaccinated. Around 10 lakh people have been targeted as beneficiaries of the scheme. Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said, “A total of 2,15,17,446 vaccines (at government and private hospitals) have been administered in the state till Tuesday.” He added, “The health department of the Chennai Corporation has been taking measures to prevent the third wave of Covid-19.” According to reports, 250 people will be administered vaccines at Kauvery Hospital Wednesday. It is also learnt that the private hospitals will decide on the number of beneficiaries they will administer vaccines to each day.
