Let people take Covishield second dose after 4 weeks: Kerala HC tells Centre

Kerala High Court tells Union govt to make provisions on the CoWIN portal, allowing beneficiaries to book slots four weeks after taking the first dose

The Kerala High Court has directed the Centre to allow people, who are willing, to receive the second dose of the Covishield vaccine four weeks after taking the first one. Currently, according to the central government’s guidelines, there is a gap of 84 days between two Covishield doses.

Justice P B Suresh Kumar said that if the central and state governments can permit people travelling abroad to choose between early and better protection from Covid-19, there is no reason why the same privilege can’t be extended to those here who want early protection for their employment or education.

The HC, in its order dated September 3 which was made available on Monday, said that even according to the Union health ministry’s policy, people shall have the choice to get early vaccination, for the implementation of which vaccine is being distributed on payment basis via private hospitals as well.

“The fourth respondent (Centre) is directed to make necessary provisions forthwith in the CoWIN portal, so as to enable scheduling of second dose of Covishield vaccine after four weeks of the first dose for those who want to accept the second dose after a period of four weeks in terms of the initial protocol of the vaccine,” the court said.

It allowed the plea by Kitex Garments Ltd seeking permission to administer the second dose of Covishield vaccine to its workers without having to wait for 84 days.

Daily toll falls to 167-day low

India logged 38,948 fresh cases of novel  Coronavirus and 219 deaths, the lowest in 167 days, according to the Union health ministry’s data updated on Monday morning. The case fatality rate has declined to 1.33 per cent after 48 days. India had reported 199 deaths in a single day on March 23. The active cases have declined to 4,04,874.

Tocira for Covid treatment

Meanwhile, drug firm Hetero on Monday said it has received emergency use authorisation from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for its biosimilar version of Tocilizumab for treatment of Covid-19 in hospitalised adults. The company said it will market the drug under the brand name ‘Tocira’.

This authorisation will enable medical practitioners to use the drug for the treatment of Covid-19 in hospitalised adults who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, it added.

3,30,27,621
Total no. of Coronavirus cases in india so far

4,40,752
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

4,04,874
Total no. of active cases in India

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