84% of those died due to Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu over last three months were unvaccinated

Tamil Nadu, the risk of an unvaccinated person dying of Covid is 3.5 times higher when compared to a vaccinated person, a health official said

Around 84 per cent of those who died due to Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu from August to October were unvaccinated, according to data available with the Health Department. Releasing the data on Wednesday, the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) asked people in the state to get vaccinated at the earliest by pointing to the efforts like special vaccination camps being conducted every week.

Of the 2,011 persons who lost their lives due to Covid-19 in the months of August, September, and October, as many as 1,675 belonged to the unvaccinated category. Director of Public Health T S Selva Vinayagam said the Health Department technically calculates risk by Case Fatality Rate (CFR), which indicates the risk of a person dying from a particular disease.

“As per our own data in Tamil Nadu, the risk of an unvaccinated person dying of Covid is 3.5 times higher when compared to a vaccinated person. This is one of the substantial pieces of evidence available with us which should enable the common man to understand the value of Covid-19 vaccine,” he said.

Tamil Nadu has so far administered 6.31 crore doses, including 26.98 doses at private hospitals, vaccinating over 71 per cent of the eligible population with the first dose. The second dose coverage stands at 35 per cent.

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The state, which had one of the lowest rates of vaccination in the first few months, picked up pace after the Health Department began conducting special camps across the state over the weekend.

With the special camps being a success, the government has now decided to hold two camps – on Thursday and Sunday – every week to increase the vaccination coverage. However, the government’s move to set targets for doctors in rural areas on vaccination has come under criticism from several quarters.

Selva Vinayagam said the data available with the government should encourage people to get vaccinated at the earliest, adding that the Health Department has sufficient stock of vaccines available across the state.

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