Vaccines for all: SC has put Centre squarely on the mat
The demand for a review of the Union government’s liberalised vaccine policy that handed over the responsibility of vaccinating people aged between 18 and 44 years to the state governments and private hospitals is gaining strength what with the Supreme Court questioning its very logic. In its interim order in a suo motu case on Wednesday, the apex court wondered why the Centre cannot procure the vaccines for the states as well if it gets the doses cheap because of the size of its order. The court pointed out that the Union Budget for 2021-22 has earmarked `35,000 crores to vaccinate people unlike the cash-strapped states, and asked the latter whether they have plans to vaccinate their people for free. After digging out data which said there are about 13,000 villages with no common service centres, the court flagged the issue of digital divide and reminded the government that accessibility barrier could have serious implications on the fundamental rights to equality and health of the marginalised sections of society as registering themselves on the CoWin app is mandatory to get the jab.
Some could find the court’s directive to produce the data of the purchases the Centre has made till now and the documents and file notings reflecting its thinking on the policy a bit of judicial overreach but the court, as the defender of fundamental rights including the right to life, has little option but to put its foot down and hold a delinquent government accountable. The same sense of duty could have driven it into asking the government to produce an outline for how and when it seeks to vaccinate the remaining population by the end of 2021.
The court’s views apart, the vaccine policy has come under criticism from several state governments, experts and epidemiologists as it refuses to address the challenges the pandemic poses to the nation. The latest to join the chorus is Odisha chief minister Navin Patnaik who wants the Centre to procure vaccines for all the states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on record saying vaccination is an important tool in the fight against the virus but the government he heads does not seem to understand its import, lest it should not have forced state government and private companies to fight with one another for a life-saving product in a market where the supply is limited. The Centre should have long ended the charade of the state governments floating global tenders for vaccines only to get poor response when it, as it stated the other day, had known that there is a global shortage of the doses and that manufacturers are unlikely to deal with state governments. It should have taken an early decision on making the Integrated Vaccine Complex at Chengalpet in Tamil Nadu functional instead of sitting on the repeated reminders by chief minister M.K. Stalin.
The government should take the court’s intervention as an opportunity to make a course correction and take charge. It should go in for a thorough review of the botched policy and come out with a comprehensive one which will inoculate every citizen whether a third wave hits the nation or not. Better late than never.
The government should take the court’s intervention as an opportunity to make a course correction and take charge. It should go in for a thorough review of the botched policy.