We Expect To Vaccinate Entire Eligible Population By End Of 2021, Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Central Government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it is expecting to vaccinate the entire eligible population by the end of year 2021.

Solicitor General of India, Mr.Tushar Mehta, made this submission before a bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat which is hearing the suo moto case on COVID-related issues(In Re Distribution of Essential Supplies and Services During Pandemic).

The Solicitor General started the hearing by saying that there are some "good developments" in the matter and that the COVID issue was on its way back to being normal.

"On the question of vaccination, there is a good development. Broadly I may indicate , as per our estimate, we expect the entire eligible population to get vaccinated by the end of this year", the Solicitor General said.

He told the bench that the Central Government was in active discussions with foreign vaccine companies like Pfizer, Moderna etc., at both the political and diplomatic levels.

"The Government is positive...we might be able to get those vaccines as well", the SG said.

The SG further informed the bench that that national task force on oxygen allocation - constituted by the Supreme Court on May 6- has held several meetings and has prepared a draft report, which will be presented before the court soon after its finalization.

The bench however expressed serious reservations about the Centre's vaccine policy and posed tough questions on the dual-pricing and procurement of vaccines. The Court also raised concerns about the mandatory requirement to register in Co-Win app excluding several people from the vaccination.

The Solicitor General agreed to file a fresh affidavit addressing the concerns raised by the bench. The top law officer of the Union said that the policy was not "cast in stone" and was flexible so as to respond to the dynamic COVID situation.

The bench will consider the matter after two weeks.

On April 30, the bench had made a prima facie observation that the Centre's Vaccination policy was detrimental to right to health and was violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

For detailed reports about Court's observations :

COVID Vaccines : Why States Have To Pay Higher Prices? Price Must Be Uniform, Supreme Court Tells Centre