Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has carried out his first trip out of Chennai on Thursday since assuming the office two weeks ago. Stalin has sworn in as the Chief Minister on May 7 and on Thursday, he visited the districts that remain as the ADMK's stronghold to inaugurate the COVID-19 vaccination programme to vaccinate the people between the age group of 18 and 44 years. 

He launched the programme at Tirupur in the presence of Tamil Nadu Health Minister M Subramanian and several other ministers of his cabinet. The launch event was hosted by Nethaji Apparel Park at Perumanallur and after launching the crucial vaccination drive, Stalin has distributed certificates to those who received the vaccine shots, and as soon as he launched, the vaccination drive had begun in the state to cover the people between the age group of 18-44, which majorly contribution in the state's total population. 

In his first tour as the Chief Minister to the western districts that are citadels of ADMK, Stalin has visited Coimbatore, Salem, and Tirupur and after launching the vaccination programme, he had inspected Covid care facilities, reviewed prevention measures, and take stock of the treatment facilities in these districts. 

According to reports, ministers like S Muthusamy, Senthil Balaji, Ramachandran, Vellakoil Saminathan, R Sakkarapani, and Kayalvizhi Selvaraj had accompanied him. During his tour in Coimbatore, Stalin has inspected the 820-bedded Covid care facility at Codissia complex, which has been installed amid the existing facility with the capacity of 676 beds. 

The state government has released a statement concerning his visit in which it has said that it has been taking efforts to procure 3.5 crore vaccine doses through a global tender and 1.5 crores more as state's allocation from the Central government. The objective of the government is to prioritize vaccination of high-risk groups and industrial workers in the initial phase of the state's vaccination drive as they people fall under the most vulnerable category. 

The state has over 2,100 centres to vaccinate the people in the age group of 18-44 and on Tuesday, the Chief Minister has issued orders to procure oxygen, vaccines, and lifesaving drugs within the state. The state government has also appointed Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation to establish a joint venture with Indian and overseas companies willing to invest a minimum of Rs 50 crore in order to help with the production.

Tamil Nadu is currently vaccinating the people with Serum Institute's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. So far as of Tuesday, Tamil Nadu has received 9.62 lakh doses of the order placed for 13.85 lakh doses. On Thursday, Tamil Nadu has reported 35,579 fresh COVID-19 cases, 14,52,283 discharges, and 397 deaths. Overall, Tamil Nadu has recorded 17,34,804 COVID-19 cases so far as of Thursday of which 2,63,390 are active, 14,52,283 have been discharged, and 19,131 had succumbed to the viral infection.