Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian, on January 17, said the state has administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to all school students aged between 15 to 18 years. 

"100 per cent school students between 15 to 18 years of age in Tamil Nadu have been inoculated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine," Subramanian told reporters in Chennai. The Central Government announced the COVID vaccination drive for children in this age group across the country, which started on January 3.

The Tamil Nadu government, on January 16, decided to shut schools for all classes till the end of the month as there has been a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases across the state. The state recorded 23,989 new COVID-19 cases and 11 fatalities on January 16, the health department in the daily bulletin said. This has taken the total number of cases reported so far to 29,15,948 and the death toll to 36,967.