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Even as COVID-19 cases continue to spiral, hospitals still report a shortage of beds and crematoriums of firewood, and while crores of Indians, at least those with access to the virtual portals, scrounge for vaccine slots – often in vain – the Centre, on Sunday, 9 May, asked the Supreme Court to not interfere with its vaccine policy.
As per media reports, the Centre, in its affidavit, told the Supreme Court that its vaccination policy had been designed to ensure equitable distribution, with limited availability of vaccines, vulnerability, and the fact that vaccinating the entire country was not possible in one go due to the suddenness of the pandemic, “as the prime consideration”.
The Supreme Court, on Monday, adjourned the hearing in the case, for Thursday, 13 May.
Meanwhile, Justice DY Chandrachud, as per ANI, informed the Centre that they have received the affidavit and will go through it, following which the lawyers connected to the case have asked the top court to adjourn the matter for 13 May so they would have enough time to read the affidavit.
Claiming that it’s policy requires “no interference” by the top court and that “the Executive does have a room for free play in the joints, in larger public interest”, the Centre, according to Bar and Bench, said:
In a bid to justify the price of the vaccines and the difference in the rates between that for the Centre and the States, the Centre’s affidavit claimed:
Further, the Centre, was quoted by The Indian Express, as saying:
Meanwhile, critics of differential pricing have sought a different strategy from the Centre, with Praveen Chakravarty, chairperson of Congress' data analytics, pointing out to The Quint’s Sanjay Pugali that the “COVID vaccine is not like a flight ticket where every passenger pays a different fare".
Chakravarty’s suggestions include:
The Centre should ask state governments to directly place orders with the vaccine manufacturer, depending on the size of the population of each state.
The Centre should pay the manufacturer directly and make the vaccine free for all state governments.
Further, Prashant Reddy T, in his opinion piece for The Quint, wrote: “Instead of dwelling on legal options to control prices, the government could’ve handled negotiations on behalf of states.”
On 2 May, the Supreme Court, in its 64-page order and a suo-motu writ petition, had asked the Centre to revisit its vaccine procurement policy, pointing out that the present police would “prima facie result in a detriment to the right to public health which is an integral element of Article 21 of the Constitution”.
On Sunday, 9 May, India reported 4,03,738 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 2,22,96,414. The death toll increased by 4,092 to 2,42,362.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and Bar and Bench)
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