DMK's Stalin asks PM Modi to supply extra vaccines to Tamil Nadu; wants restrictions eased

As COVID cases continued to surge throughout the country, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin urged PM Modi to provide additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Tamil Nadu in order to arrest the spread of the pandemic. Stalin's demand comes as India recorded over 2.6 lakh COVID cases in 24 hours with an unprecedented surge being reported throughout the country. MK Stalin, on Sunday, urged the Centre to allow state governments to procure vaccines independently and urged to relax the restrictions on the state government regarding the purchase of medical equipment, life-saving drugs and vaccines. Taking to Twitter, Stalin said that the state could not wait for the Centre's nod everytime to save the life of the people and urged PM Modi to consider his demands. 

DMK's Stalin asks PM Modi for additional doses of Vaccine for Tamil Nadu

Earlier on Wednesday, Stalin had blamed the 'lackadaisical' attitude and the careless administration of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the prevailing situation in the State and the country and demanded a universal vaccination drive to check the situation. He also talked about the Tika Utsav announced by PM Modi and called it an attempt to 'divert' the attention of the people from the 'laxity' in handling the matter. Outlining that in Tamil Nadu only 40.21 lakh people were inoculated, he went to call out BJP's ally and the ruling AIADMK.

Tamil Nadu reports 9,344 cases in 24 hours

Tamil Nadu on Saturday reported 9,344 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the caseload to 9,80,728, while recoveries mounted to 9,02,022 with 5,263 patients being discharged. Active cases stood at 65,635. A health department bulletin said 39 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to13,071.

The new COVID-19 cases included 30 returnees from various destinations. Chennai accounted for 2,884 new infections, taking the aggregate to 2,80,184. The metropolis also leads in the number of fatalities with 4,386 people succumbing to the virus. With the government laying emphasis on increasing testing of samples, the total number tested today crossed the one lakh mark with 1,00,804 samples being tested, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 2,10,77,500.