Chennai, Jan 10 (BPNS)

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin on Monday inaugurated the vaccine drive for ‘ precautionary dose’ at Chennai. The vaccination drive is for healthcare workers, frontline workers, and those above 60 years of age with comorbidities.

According to the Tamil Nadu Public Health department, 4 lakh healthcare workers, front line workers and those above 60 years with comorbidities are eligible for the vaccine.

The four lakh eligible people include 2,06,128 health care workers, 92,816 frontline workers, and 1,01,069 senior citizens with comorbidities.

Chief Minister also extended the insurance cover to be provided under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) to five years.

M.K. Stalin also handed over the orders to the insurance provider, United India  Insurance Company Ltd (UIICL) to extend the CMCHIS for five years from January 11, 2022. An amount of Rs 1,248.29 crore was sanctioned by the government of Tamil Nadu for the scheme to the Insurance company.

A statement from the Chief Minister’s office on Monday said that under this scheme beneficiaries can undergo medical treatment with insurance cover for 1090 medical and surgical procedures in 1600 hospitals that include 714 government and 886 private hospitals.

The scheme provides insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh to 1. 37 crore families across the state whose annual incomes are under Rs 1,20,000. The state government had in the month of December 2021 revised the eligibility limit from Rs 72000 to 1,20,000.