New Delhi: The Union government clarified in the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it has not made Covid-19 vaccines mandatory and has only stated that vaccination should be 100 percent.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, clarified this after Additional Advocate General for Tamil Nadu Amit Anand Tiwari told a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai that the Centre had issued a mandate to us that 100% of people should be vaccinated.
"Milords one clarification... that the State of Tamil Nadu said they made it mandatory as the Centre said 100 percent vaccination. This is not a mandate. The Centre has not issued any mandate, the stand of Centre is that it should be 100 percent but it is not a mandate," Solicitor Mehta told the apex court which reserved its ruling on the petition seeking directions for disclosure of data on clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines and post-jab cases.
Tiwari stated that Tamil Nadu enacted the vaccine mandate because vaccination against Covid-19 is crucial to avert major disease in the population.
"I have submitted expert reports. Unvaccinated people are the cause of the mutation of viruses ... Where there is a likelihood that it would infect others or if there is a likelihood of spread, we have the power to issue such mandates... There is enough evidence to show that vaccines are preventing serious disease," he added.
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He added that "It is further submitted that these provisions are also designed to nudge the public into getting vaccinated to stop the spread of disease. They are passed not only for the safety of the concerned individual but also serve a greater purpose of ensuring the safety of others."
Vaccine manufacturers Bharat Biotech Ltd and Serum Institute of India also opposed the petition, claiming that the plea, which purported to be in the public interest, is liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs for espousing a private motive and attempting to cause vaccine hesitancy and public hysteria in the midst of a global pandemic.
The counsel for Bharat Biotech Ltd stated that the findings of clinical trials have been extensively published in publicly available recognised peer-reviewed journals and are available on its website.
The counsel for the Serum Institute of India, opposing the petitioner's plea said that "As a matter of principle, they cannot ask for data. My data is with the regulator ... There is no locus for the petitioner. Even under the RTI, they have to show there is public interest. My submission is that it is an infructuous petition."
The Centre had previously informed the Supreme Court that all records pertaining to Covid-19 vaccinations and their compositions were in the public domain, and the vaccine had proven to be very efficient and safe.
It had previously informed the Apex Court that as of March 13, this year, over 180 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccinations have been administered in the country, with 77,314 adverse events, or 0.004%, registered.
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-PTC News