Chennai, May 27 (IANS): Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss has urged the Tamil Nadu government to make vaccination mandatory to avail the benefits of the welfare schemes of the state.

Ramadoss expressed displeasure at the slow pace of inoculations in the state, which is less than 10 per cent of the total population.

The PMK leader, who is also a medical doctor, said that the reluctance of the people to take vaccine jabs in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu as well as the state government not speeding up the process of vaccinating those above 18 years are the reasons for the low immunisation coverage in the state.

He said the Centre's decision not to raise its vaccine allocation to the state is not justified and added that when the inoculation drive was rolled out, there were lesser number of Covid cases in the state, but now it has turned out to be a grave situation.

Ramadoss urged the state government to create awareness among rural people on the vaccination benefits and to counter any fake information circulating in the rural hinterland.

He added that the second Covid wave is spreading more in villages and rural areas as compared to towns and urban pockets and the reason for this is low vaccination.