Respond To Karnataka's Request For 35 Lakh Vaccine Doses Per Week : High Court To Centre

The State government in its written submission filed before the court said that if 35 lakh doses of vaccines are provided to the state every week, the state will cover all eligible beneficiaries in three months.

Further, it was said that as of August 5, the state government has received a total of 2,78,37,620 doses of covid-19 vaccines as government quota, out of which 2,43,45,620 doses are Covishield and 34,92,000 are that of Covaxin. It is also said that total eligible beneficiaries in the state who are above 18 years of age are 4,97,93,996 and total doses administered as of August 5, are 3,20,83,453.

It is also claimed that the State government has the capacity to vaccinate 5 lakh beneficiaries per day, therefore, if 35 lakh doses are received per week the state would be able to cover all eligible beneficiaries. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar orally said "If some state government is able to achieve the tall target, the Government of India shall welcome that and assist it."

The state government also submitted its action plan for preparedness to address the upcoming 3rd wave of Covid-19 in the state. The court directed the state government to furnish copies of the same to the petitioners and said it would hear the parties on the same on the next date of hearing. The court suggested that "There is no clarity on the effectiveness of Covaxin and Covishiled, if the vaccines are effective for a limited period, necessary provisions shall be made for providing further doses in the action plan." The court also directed the Government of India to respond on this point.

The matter will be next heard on August 25.