Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him for a special allocation of 1 crore vaccine doses to the state. Stalin urged the Prime Minister to correct the imbalances in vaccine allocation, adding that the state was facing a heavy shortage of vaccine doses.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Chief pointed out that the state has not received vaccines according to the proportion of its population. He said that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had promised that vaccines would be allocated to states based on the proportion of the eligible population between 18 and 44 years. Stalin in his letter said while Tamil Nadu was allocated 302 vaccines per thousand of the population, states like Gujarat, Karnataka, and Rajasthan received 533, 493 and 446 vaccine doses, respectively, adding, that it was gross injustice to Tamil Nadu.
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Tamil Nadu has received only 29,18,110 vaccine doses from the Union government for people in the 18-44 age group till July 8, he added. The Chief Minister said the vaccine shortage has made it difficult for the state to move ahead with the inoculation drive, adding that the state government's efforts for awareness on vaccination were bearing fruit and people were queuing up in large numbers for getting the jab.
Stalin said while the people of the state were shunning vaccine hesitancy due to the micro-level intervention by the DMK government, the shortage of vaccines would undo the good work on the ground. He urged Modi for a special allocation of 1 crore vaccines to help the state vaccinate its population in the targeted period.
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(IANS)
