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CPI (M) Rajya Sabha member from Kerala, John Brittas along with a professor from TISS, Mr. R. Ramakumar, has moved an intervention application in Suo Moto COVID crisis, pending for final adjudication before the Supreme Court.

The plea seeks orders insisting the Union to reconsider its policy of vaccination, supply of essential drugs, supply of medical oxygen, augmentation of healthcare workforce and the issues of freedom of speech & expression faced by people during the pandemic.

It highlights the “perversity in the design of the new vaccination policy” by enumerating the following points:

1. Selling of 25% of total monthly production of vaccines to private sector is likely to cause a reservation for the rich and urban people, hampering principles of social & economic justice. This further adds to “unjust enrichment” to the vaccine manufacturers.
2. Highlighting under-utilization of vaccines and necessary steps to be taken against it, interveners submit that high prices at private hospitals and vaccine hesitancy will continue to cause low vaccination at private healthcare institutes.
3. Independent purchase of vaccines by private hospitals is likely to create huge vaccine inequity in the country.
4. As private hospitals are allowed to purchase vaccines directly from the manufacturers, a vaccine developed in India by Indian scientists, manufactured by an Indian company is seemingly more expensive than most of the American vaccines.
5. Revised guidelines are silent about vaccines for children and the preparedness of the Government against the anticipated third wave of COVID 19.
6. Even though the Government has expressed its intention to vaccinate the entire population with two doses by December 2021, the guidelines of the Press Information Bureau dated June 14, 2021, reveals that there are only 4.91 crores of people in the country who have received both the doses of vaccine. With hardly 6.5 months remaining to reach the targeted deadline of 31^st December, 2021 only 3.51 % of the population got both doses of vaccines and the revised guidelines do not speak about any action plan to expedite the process.

“Unless the Centre takes over 100% procurement and makes doses available to all through private and public hospitals under the aegis of a proper regulatory authority with continuing mandamus from this Hon’ble Court , the Covid vaccination policy would continue to remain incomplete, inequitable, inefficient and opaque and the fundamental rights of the people to health as recognised by this Hon’ble Court in a catena of cases like Bandhua Mukthi Morcha v. Union of India, State of Punjab v Mohinder Singh Chawla, State of Punjab & Ors v Ram Lubhaya Bagga and so on will be put to freezer”, the interveners submit.

Case Title: IN RE: DISTRIBUTION OF ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES AND SERVICES DURING PANDEMIC | SMWP (C) 3 of 2021