Amid rising cases, Palaniswami places thrust on vaccination

Step out only if it is absolutely necessary, CM tells public

With cases of COVID-19 rising in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday sought to give a thrust to vaccination by appealing to all those eligible to get the jab without hesitation. He also called for increased and aggressive testing, with a target of at least 90,000 RT-PCR tests a day and results within 24 hours, contact tracing of at least 25 to 30 persons for every case, and increasing the number of fever camps. “All those eligible for vaccination should take the vaccines,” he said while chairing a meeting of medical and public health experts at the Secretariat to review the COVID-19 scenario. The meeting was held after getting approval from the Election Commission of India as the model code of conduct for the Assembly election is still in force. The State received over 54.85 lakh vials of vaccine from the Centre till April 11, and more than 37.8 lakh people had been vaccinated. All frontline workers, including government employees, should get the jab within two weeks, he said. Factories, offices, markets and apartments must contact the respective local bodies and district administrations for organising vaccination drives, he added.