Centre's vax policy irrational: SC

New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday made scathing remarks on Centre's vaccination policy against Covid-19, terming the replacement of free vaccination in the first two phases with paid vaccination for persons between 18-44 years as prima facie as 'arbitrary and irrational'.

In a 32-page ruling, a bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat said: "Due to the importance of vaccinating individuals in the 18-44 age group, the policy of the Central government for conducting free vaccination themselves for groups under the first two phases, and replacing it with paid vaccination by the state/UT governments and private hospitals for the persons between 18-44 years is, prima facie, arbitrary and irrational."

The court noted that persons between 18-44 years of age have not only been infected by Covid-19 but have also suffered from severe effects of the infection, including prolonged hospitalisation and, in unfortunate cases, death.

"Due to the changing nature of the pandemic, we are now faced with a situation where the 18-44 age group also needs to be vaccinated, although priority may be retained between different age groups on a scientific basis," it said.

Healthcare workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs) and persons above the age of 45 years, were prioritised in Phases 1 and 2 for obtaining Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccination policy was substantially changed for persons between 18-44 years of age.

The liberalised vaccination policy requires some of these persons to pay for the vaccines, limited vaccines were made available for this category with the state/UT governments/private hospitals, and an additional requirement of mandatory digital registration through CoWIN.

The top court noted vaccination of the nation's entire eligible population is the singular most important task in effectively combating the pandemic in the long run.

Citing issues with vaccination policy, the amicus curiae, in the matter, said States and municipal bodies unsuccessfully negotiated with foreign manufacturers to procure vaccines and the Centre is better placed to use its monopoly as a buyer to bargain for higher quantities of vaccines at reasonable prices.

"We find that the submissions urged by the Amici are extremely pertinent and have indicated that in practice, the liberalised vaccination policy may not be able to yield the desired results of spurring competitive prices and higher quantities of vaccines," the bench noted.

The Centre said the Union Budget for financial year 2021-2022 had earmarked Rs 35,000 crore for procuring vaccines. However, the top court said in light of the liberalised vaccination policy, the Centre is directed to clarify how these funds have been spent so far and why they cannot be utilised for vaccinating persons aged 18-44 years.