Lekha G
The Supreme Court in a suo moto hearing on the Covid-19 crisis has questioned the Central Government on its “Dual policy” for procurement of Covid-19 vaccines.
Justice Chandrachud observed, “Centre says it gets a low price since it buys in bulk. If this is the rationale, then why do states have to pay a higher price? There needs to be one price for vaccines across the nation. The pandemic has evolved in the last two months.”
Amid reports of states procuring vaccine doses from global tenders due to a shortage of vaccines, the Court has directed the Centre to take charge of sourcing the jabs for the entire country.
Solicitor General Mehta further said that the domestic vaccine manufacturers namely Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and Reddy’s Lab would suffice the demand of vaccinating people above 18 years of age and successful talks with companies like Pfizer would further change the timeline of vaccination.
Mehta further criticized walk-in vaccination leading to overcrowding at the vaccination centres.
“Please smell the coffee. If we had to do it, we would have done so 15 days ago. But we want you to smell the coffee and realise what’s happening in the country and make the necessary amendments,” said Justice Chandrachud.
The Court also raised questions on the digital divide among people in rural and urban areas while registering for the vaccine through the CoWIN mobile application.
On May 8, the Supreme Court had set up a twelve-member National Task Force (NTF) to facilitate a public health response to Covid-19 based on scientific knowledge and make recommendations relating to the distribution of oxygen in the country.
