Stalin: Increase vax coverage to arrest virus spread

Chennai: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday asked the district collectors other officials, through video conferencing, to take steps to increase vaccination coverage amid Covid-19 numbers going up in the State and clusters emerging in the capital city.

“Vaccine is the biggest weapon available to combat Covid-19 and we have to ensure that people are vaccinated. Though the number of people who are vaccinated in the State is high it is not on par with other states and speaking particularly, 1.48 crore people in the State have not undertaken a second dose of vaccination,” CM Stalin reminded district collectors.

The Chief Minister further asked the district collectors to maintain a “fine balance” to ensure that economic activities are not affected due to Covid-19 and at the same time the lives of the public are not put at risk. He also directed the collectors to ensure that people wear face masks in public.

Meanwhile, former chief minister O Panneerselvam, in a sarcastic note, posted a question in the Assembly about whether wearing masks is mandatory only for the public or also for members of the House. Speaker M Appavu, however, replied that even AIADMK Whip SP Velumani had no masks on him. Immediately, Velumani, former Higher Education Minister KP Anbazhagan and others wore the masks that they kept on their tables.