New Delhi, May 2: The Supreme Court on Monday said no person could be forced to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and asked the Central Government to make public the effect of such an immunisation.
A Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai said bodily autonomy and integrity were protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court court the current Covid-19 vaccine policy could not be said to be manifestly arbitrary and unreasonable. "Till numbers are low, we suggest that relevant orders are followed and no restriction is imposed on unvaccinated individuals on access to public areas or recall the same if already not done," the Bench said.
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Regarding segregation of vaccine trial data, subject to privacy of individuals, in all trials conducted and to be subsequently conducted, all data must be made available to the public without further delay, it added.
The top court directed the Union of India to publish reports on adverse events of Covid-19 vaccines from the public and doctors on a publicly accessible system without compromising data of individuals.
It further held that no substantial data had been produced on record by the Centre to show that the risk of transmission of Covid-19 virus from the unvaccinated persons is higher than from the vaccinated persons. The top court also directed the Centre to make public the data on the adverse effects of Covid-19 vaccination.
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On vaccination for children, the apex court said it was not possible for it to second guess the opinion of experts and the vaccination indeed followed the global standards and practices.
The judgement of the apex court came on a PIL filed by Dr Jacob Puliyel alleging coercive vaccination of citizens and seeking disclosure of Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial data and post-vaccination data. It sought public disclosure of vaccine clinical trial data and post-vaccination data, claiming that it is mandatory and required that the government must publish the data as per the international medical norms.
Dr Puliyel had also sought a stay on the vaccine mandates that are being issued by authorities in various parts of the country.
-PTC News