Free Covid vaccines at private hospitals: Tamil Nadu CM to launch scheme on July 28

Tamil Nadu will on Wednesday become the first state in the country to administer free Covid-19 vaccines to the people at private hospitals using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of corporates and private firms.

Chief Minister M K Stalin will launch the scheme at Kauvery Hospitals in Chennai on Wednesday with a popular hotel chain sponsoring 1,000 vaccine shots to be administered. The state has so far collected over Rs 4 crore from various companies to buy vaccines from private hospitals that are unused and administer them to people free of cost.

“We will launch the scheme in Chennai on Wednesday. This is just the beginning. The response to the government’s appeal to companies to use their CSR funds to vaccinate people is good, and this scheme will be extended to other districts of the state immediately,” Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said.

Not just corporate and private firms, the government is allowing interested individuals to sponsor vaccines to people who need them. The state came up with the idea to ensure that all doses that are allotted to private hospitals are administered to the people.

The Union Government follows a 75:25 vaccination distribution formula under which it supplies 75 per cent doses to the states free of cost and 25 per cent to private hospitals. Lakhs of vaccine doses at private hospitals in Tamil Nadu are not used owing to a slew of factors including its high cost, while the supplies given to the state government run out quite fast.

The state government has asked the Union Government to revise the 75:25 formula to 90:10 so that the state government can continue with its vaccination drive without any hindrance.

The state has so far administered 2.07 crore vaccines shots of which 13.88 lakhs are from the private sector. Of the 17 lakh doses allotted for private hospitals in July, they have paid money only for 5 lakh doses of which 2.42 lakh have been administered.

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