In a significant drive of the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Tamil Nadu, the state government is all set to pour a crucial push for the vaccination drive through a scheme that would provide free Covid-19 vaccines in private hospitals in Tamil Nadu. Currently, people can receive vaccines doses free of cost in the government hospitals while the private hospitals will charge them based on the vaccines they get inoculated. 

The scheme for free vaccination at the private hospitals will be unfolded nearly a month after the new vaccination drive was announced by the Union government in which 75% of the total vaccines produced will be procured by the Union government directly from the makers and it will distribute to the states at free of cost while the rest 25% will be procured by the private hospitals. 

The scheme to provide Covid vaccines free of cost to the public in private hospitals in Tamil Nadu will be covered under the CSR initiative and the government has officials announced that Chief Minister MK Stalin will formally launch the scheme on July 28. He will be inaugurating the scheme at Kaveri hospital in Chennai. The state health department has said that the scheme will be benefitting more people. 

According to reports, the CSR initiative of providing vaccines free of cost in private hospitals has come after Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian had held a meeting with the companies and representatives of various health care providers across the state. Last week, the health minister had incessant discussions with the representatives of 137 hospitals and industrialists from Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpet, Ranipet, Vellore, Coimbatore, Kancheepuram, and Thirupathur. 

As the sequel of the discussion, the state will have a scheme to avail Covid-19 vaccines free of cost in private hospitals from July 28. The health minister said that the funds to procure the vaccines under the CSR initiative will be borne by Adyar Anandha Bhavan, a prominent restaurant chain across and beyond the state. Subramanian further said that the hospitals offering this scheme would be circulating the advertisements of the scheme around its area to let the public know about the free vaccination. 

On the front of expanding the scheme across the state, the health minister said that the scheme would be implemented in Chennai on July 28 and it would be expanded to the rest of the districts at a gradual phase. He further clarified that the current practice of private hospitals charging for the vaccines will also continue along with the free vaccination drive and the people can avail both the services as per their wish. It must be noted that the prices of per dose of Covaxin and Covishield at the private hospitals stand at Rs 1,410 and Rs 780 respectively.

According to the state health department, 21,131,918 vaccination doses were administered in Tamil Nadu so far as of Sunday. The state has reported 1,808 fresh cases, 2,447 discharges, and 22 deaths on Sunday, and overall, Tamil Nadu has reported 25,48,497 Covid-19 cases so far as of Sunday of which 23,364 are active, 24,91,222 have been discharged, and 33,911 had succumbed to the viral infection.