Hinting at a possible XE Variant surge in the near future, former Health Minister C.Vijayabaskar brought to the attention of the Govt. that more than 45 lakh people in the State are not vaccinated with 1st dose.
He moved a motion at the TN Assembly session on Tuesday to ask what steps has been taken by the State Government to taken in connection with the XE Variant and Vaccination.
Vijayabaskar said that while everyone are living in a sound and relaxed environment after the 3rd wave, several sources including news articles state that XE variant of COVID-19 may hit India in June.
The former Health Minister said that among the eligible 18+ age category, 48 lakh people in the State have not received first dose and 1.37 lakh people have not received second dose.
Vijayabaskar pointed that the XE variant is a sub-type of omicron, and it spreads 10 times faster than other variants in foreign countries. Hence he appealed the State govt. to vaccinate all the eligible candidates before June, this year so that if XE variant (which is not present in India till Apr.13) surfaces, and causes trouble, it could be managed.
The Health Minister of Tamil Nadu. Ma. Subramanian responded that Tamil Nadu is geared up to tackle the new coronavirus variant XE or any other strain. Talking about vaccination, he said that 10.55 crore vaccine doses have been administered till Tuesday morning, out of which 92.37% were the first dose and 77.19% were the second dose.