CHENNAI: Health Minister Ma Subramanian inaugurated the Egmore Children’s Hospital’s pneumococcal conjugate vaccine push on Saturday. “Parents who have not yet had their children vaccinated should take advantage of this opportunity to do so as soon as possible. The three pills would cost Rs 12,000 each at a private hospital. But we’re giving it away for free here,” he explained.
Subramanian told reporters that the vaccine drive is being carried out countrywide and these doses will safeguard the kids from pneumonia and brain fever. “In other States, the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine drive began long ago, but the previous government in our State took no steps in this regard,” he added.
After inspecting the Egmore GH and meeting the children there, Ma Subramanian said that he has given the keys of his government-allotted house in the city to a Tirunelveli-based family as their five-year-old child, who consumed bleaching powder in March, is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
“The parents too have been staying at the hospital for months. So I gave them my official house key and told them that they can stay there as long as they want. I have instructed the authorities to provide them food for as long as they stay there,” he said. The child’s condition is improving gradually.
