Mass vaccination drive: Over 48% people get second dose

COIMBATORE: As many as 94,723 people were inoculated during the mass vaccination drive conducted across the district on Sunday. Almost half of them got their second dose.
There was good demand for Covishield and vaccines were rushed to centres that ran out of stock by afternoon.
With an aim of vaccinating a lakh population, vaccination camps were organised at 706 places across the district.
Last week, 1,51,685 people were vaccinated in Coimbatore district, only next to Chennai where 1,85,370 were vaccinated as part of the mass vaccination drive.
The district administration had planned vaccination camps at 1,475 centres last week and 33% of the population got their second dose.
Over 48% of the population got the second dose on Sunday, which shows high demand for the second dose. Out of the 94,723 people inoculated on Sunday, 45,716 got their second dose.
Unlike last week, when most of the people visited the camps during afternoon hours, people turned as early as 7am on Sunday.
“Majority of the population who got their first dose of Covishield in June and July are due for their second dose and made use of the mass vaccination drive,” said a health official.
R Kannan, 40, of Velandipalayam had to visit three vaccine camps along with his wife to get the vaccine. “I was informed by health staff that the vaccine got exhausted before afternoon when I visited the centres at 3pm. However, I managed to get vaccinated at the Mahalinga Nagar centre. It has been 90 days since I got the first dose of Covishield,” he told TOI.
Meanwhile, the district administration has made it mandatory for shopkeepers and customers to carry vaccination certificates from Monday. But many people, who were vaccinated in the recent weeks, are yet to receive certificates. Deputy director of health services P Aruna instructed such people to visit the centres they were vaccinated to get the certificate.