'Centre must follow national immunisation programme policy in COVID vacc drive'

The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the Central government over not following the national immunisation programme policy in the COVID19 vaccination driveThis comes as vaccination drive for people above 18 years will commence from May 1 It will include people falling in the age group of 1844 yearsA Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud took note of the difference in the price of the vaccines and said that the differential pricing of vaccine for the Centre states and private hospitals is very disturbingIt asked the Centre to explain why the COVID19 vaccine has been priced differently for the states the private sector and the CentreThe Bench also comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and Ravindra Bhat asked theCentral government as to why it is not buying 100 percent of COVID vaccine doses as it is in the best place to determine equity and disburseWhy cannot the government buy all vaccines and proceed on the lines of the national immunisation programme asked the Bench adding that the government must consider national immunisation programme for various vaccines and must think of providing free of cost vaccination to all citizensIt also flagged the concerns about the exclusion of SCSTs disenfranchised from vaccination coverageIt further asked the Centre not to leave vaccine pricing to the manufacturers and asked the government how will it ensure equity by private vaccine manufacturers when it is buying only 50 percent of the dosesDo not leave it to the manufacturers How will they determine equity Invoke your powers to see that additional facilities are created for vaccine manufacturing the Bench told the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the CentreThe court said that the private manufacturers cannot be left to decide which state should get how much quantity vaccinesIt also observed that AstraZeneca is providing vaccines at a far lower price to the US citizens then why should we be paying so muchThe Bench also noted that medical professionals are reaching a breaking point We can not just say they are COVID warriors Look at how nurses are dying they play a vital role It is time we speak about them and express gratitude it saidUse your powers Solicitor General to see whoever is doing more than they should should be paid more Why do you want to expose the doctors and no accommodation is available for them why wait for the fourteenth day etc we need them by our side the apex court addedThe Bench was hearing suo moto proceedings initiated by it on issues related to oxygen supply drug supply and vaccine policy in relation to the COVID19 situation in the countryConcluding todays hearing the Bench said the interim order giving a slew of directions will be dictated today evening and the order will be uploaded on the Supreme Courts website tomorrow morning It posted the matter for hearing next on May 10During the hearing the top court said there should not be any clampdown on citizens communicating their grievances related to COVID19 on social mediaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever