HC disposes of three pleas after Delhi govt tells court it has sufficient Covaxin doses

By LE Desk

New Delhi, June 12, 2021: The Delhi government has informed the Delhi High Court that it has got an additional 20,000 doses of Covaxin for the 18-45 age group to administer to those awaiting the second shot.

Delhi government additional standing counsel Anuj Aggarwal submitted yesterday that as part of the scheduled supply for June, 29,800 doses have also been received on June 10 and the total Covaxin stock received this month (till June 10) for 18-45 age group is 89,800 doses, the Hindustan Times reported.

The submission came on pleas filed by three persons, who claimed that they were unable to get the second dose of Covaxin within the stipulated time due to paucity of stock. They claimed that they were forced to travel to far-off places such as Meerut and Chandigarh to avail of the second vaccine dose.

While the time interval between two doses of the Covishield vaccine has been extended from four-six weeks to four-eight weeks, the second dose of Covaxin can be taken four to six weeks after the first.

Aggarwal also submitted that the number of slots available has already been increased from 150 to 200 per day per vaccination site in schools. Also between the period of June 7 and June 10, a total of 49,206 beneficiaries were given the second dose of Covaxin at government vaccination centres, according to the Co-WIN portal.

He said 1.5 lakh (150,000) people in the 18-45 age group have been inoculated and earlier, there was a shortfall of 60,000 vaccines even after receiving vaccine maker Bharat Biotech’s supply of 90,000 doses in June.

On the last date of hearing, the Delhi government had said it had arranged an additional 40,000 doses of Covaxin to administer to those awaiting the second shot. It also informed the court that directions have been issued to all government centres, private hospitals and nursing homes that Covaxin was to be administered to people in the 18-45 age group, only if they were awaiting the second shot.

Noting these submissions, Justice Rekha Palli disposed of the three pleas, reported Hindustan Times. The court observed that the grievances of people in the age group of 18-45 years, with respect to the unavailability of the second dose of Covaxin, have been addressed to a large extent.

“This in my view will take care of the grievances of the petitioners… No further orders are called for and the petitions are disposed of.”

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/hc-disposes-of-three-pleas-after-delhi-govt-tells-court-it-has-sufficient-covaxin-doses-101623434906717.html