Delhi High Court demands to know India's total capacity to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines

Delhi High Court demands to know India's total capacity to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines

The High Court has asked the Centre to explain the rationale behind keeping strict control over the class of persons who are being vaccinated

The Delhi High Court (HC) has directed two Indian manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines to disclose their capacities to manufacture Covaxin, Covishield vaccines.

The two manufacturers, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India and the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech manufacture Covishield and Covaxin vaccines respectively.

An HC bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli on 4 March 2021 also asked the Centre to explain in an affidavit the rationale behind keeping strict control over the class of persons who can be vaccinated against Covid-19 currently since under the present system only those above the age of 60 years or between 45 to 60 years with comorbidities can receive the vaccination.

The felt the two manufacturers have more capacity to provide the vaccines but it seems that they are not exploiting it fully.

"We are not utilising it fully. We are either donating it to foreign countries or selling it to foreign countries and are not vaccinating our own people. So there has to be that sense of responsibility and urgency," the bench observed.

It also directed the Delhi government to carry out inspection of medical facilities available in Delhi's court complexes and to report if Covid-19 vaccination centres could be set up in court complexes.

The HC was hearing a PIL initiated by it to examine the demand of the Bar Council of Delhi to declare all people associated with the judicial functioning, including judges, court staff and lawyers as frontline workers so that they could receive Covid-19 vaccination on priority and without limitations of their age or physical condition.