Supreme Court Slams Centre’s Vaccination Policy For 18-44 Year-Olds
The Supreme Court cited reports that showed 18-44 year olds have not only been infected by Covid, but have also suffered from prolonged hospitalisation and, in unfortunate cases, death.
The Centre’s policy of giving free vaccination to the 45-plus age group and a having paid system for those below, is “prima facie arbitrary and irrational”, the Supreme Court said today in its detailed order of Monday’s hearing made available today. Flagging several other flaws in terms of shortage of vaccine doses of its accessibility by rural people, the court asked the Centre to review its vaccination policy and “place on record a roadmap of projected availability of vaccines till 31 December 2021”. The court will take up the case again on June 30.
The government has said it will vaccinate the eligible population by December this year — an announcement that has been met with much scepticism by critics and opposition parties.
The top court also highlighted the pricing issue of vaccines, asking the Centre to submit a comparison of the prices of vaccines available in India to their international prices. It has been said by many critics that in India, the 18-44-year-olds are paying record prices for vaccines. In most nations, vaccines are procured by the governments and distributed to the people at no cost.Calling the issue of vaccination “absolutely crucial”, the court said currently people in the 18-44 year age group are not just getting infected, but suffering from severe effects of the infection, “including prolonged hospitalization and, in unfortunate cases, death”.
