Amid battling the horrendous second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tamil Nadu is all set to unveil the vaccination drive for people between the age group of 18-44. The crucial drive will be as part of the nation's third phase of the mega vaccination programme to defeat the pandemic. While the third phase was unveiled on May 1, several states had deferred the commencement in light of the vaccine shortage. 

The Tamil Nadu government is in the process of procuring an adequate number of vaccines to target the larger populace in the state and the government has announced the date on when the third phase of the vaccination will be commenced. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Health Minister M Subramanian has announced that the vaccination drive for the age group of 18-44 will begin on May 20, nearly three weeks after the scheduled commencement of the programme.

The health minister said that the government will initially vaccinate people like factory workers and auto-rickshaw drivers aged between 18-44 years to stop the COVID-19 chain. He further stated that Chief Minister MK Stalin will inaugurate the vaccination programme on May 20 and he added that the government has allotted Rs 46 crore to procure vaccines and so far nine lakh doses have arrived in the state. 

Health Minister M Subramanian was addressing the reporters on Tuesday after inaugurating the oxygen on wheels initiative launched by the Inner Wheel Club of Adyar. He was also asked about the extension of the lockdown after May 24 for which he said that the extension would be known only later but the government has been focussing on breaking the chain of transmission. 

The announcement of the commencement of the vaccination drive in Tamil Nadu has come days after the state government floated global tenders to procure 3.5 crore doses of the COVID-19 vaccines and the process of procurement is in the view of inoculating the doses to a large-scale population and it has come after the Central government shouldered the responsibility to the state governments to buy vaccines for people in the age group of 18-45. 

According to reports, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has on Tuesday 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, Tamil Nadu has received 9.62 lakh doses of the order placed for 13.85 lakh doses. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu has reported 33,059 fresh COVID-19 cases, 21,362 discharges, and 364 deaths. Overall, the state has recorded 16,64,350 cases in total so far as of Tuesday of which 2,42,929 are active, 14,03,052 have been discharged, and 18,369 had succumbed to the viral infection.