Kriti Agrawal
On Monday the Madras High Court ordered the Tamil Nadu government to prioritize Covid-19 vaccination and open special counters in all government centers for the disabled, regardless of whether they had reached the age of 45.
The order was issued by the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and justice Senthilkumar Ramamorrthy in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Meenakshi Balasubramanian, a disability rights activist and co-founder of Equals. Centre for Promotion of Social Justice, Chennai.
The court said “At the any cost, people with disabilities should be given priority in being vaccinated, even if the numbers do not warrant an exclusive counter being set up at any government vaccination center.”
The court also ordered the state government to draft guidelines and decide on the minimum age limit within three days, and to consult with the central government and vaccine manufacturers if necessary, in order to prevent negative effects.
The court also took notice of documents submitted by the Centre, which revealed that some types of people with disabilities, such as those with intellectual disabilities, muscular dystrophy, and acid attack victims whose respiratory systems have been compromised, are already being treated as being at higher risk of infection.
The state today submitted to the court that the central government was prioritizing only certain groups of people with disabilities and had written to the Centre to open the vaccination drive for all the categories but is yet to receive the response.
