Is vaccination a five-year plan, HC asks Gujarat govt

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Wednesday insisted that the state government should give priority in vaccination to people awaiting their second dose. It also asked the state to consider setting aside 10-20% of Covid-19 vaccines for beneficiaries availing spot registration, especially in rural areas, where people have no access to online registration for getting the shot.

The division bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Bhargav Karia was hearing a PIL filed suo motu on the Covid-19 pandemic and related issues. During the hearing, advocate general (AG) Kamal Trivedi apprised the court of ‘plight’ of the state government in procuring vaccines.

The AG informed the court that out of 6.5 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines required for beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group, orders have been placed for 3 crore doses with two domestic manufacturers, who have told the government that they are unable to maintain consistent supply.

The manufacturers won’t commit to supplying the entire order, Trivedi said.

The state government informed the HC that in May, it received 13,68,650 vials of vaccine from Serum Institute of India (SII) and 2,49,240 from Bharat Biotech, a total 16,17,890, which can take care of vaccination till the beginning of June. Next month, it expects delivery of 8,13,140 vials from SII and 2,46,880 vials from BB. It will get 10,77,020 vials. This made Justice Karia comment, “It means you have a five-year plan?”