High Court seeks details of vaccination from Tripura govt

By LE Desk

Agartala, May 12: The Tripura High Court has asked the state government to furnish details on COVID-19 vaccine stocks, percentage of population vaccinated till now and the expected timeframe of vaccination coverage of the state’s eligible population.

In the order made available on Tuesday, the court has also asked the government to clarify the scientific model it is following to reach a reasonable accuracy in predicting the peak number of COVID cases per day, The Indian Express reported.

The court order comes in the midst of the highest COVID fatality in the second wave here. Eleven people died of Covid Tuesday, the highest number of fatalities in a single day so far in the last few months.

While following up in a hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on COVID situation of the state registered last year, a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice AK Kureshi and Justice Subhashish Talapatra Monday said the state health department has informed the court in a recent affidavit about the details of people already administered the vaccine and said Tripura has decided to vaccinate the entire population above 18 years of age free of cost.

On May 8, the Tripura government furnished details of availability of medical, paramedical staff, equipment and other essential supplies to treat COVID patients. However, the High Court has requested the administration to provide further data.

Crediting the government for “considerable increase” of daily COVID tests compared to the previous peak of COVID cases here, the court has asked the government to inform about any scientific model available with them on the basis of which, with reasonable accuracy, the peak number of corona positive cases per day can be predicted, possibility to project peak requirement of hospital beds with and without oxygen support, current availability of such beds and possible maximum oxygen demand in terms of units or quantity at the peak of the spread of virus and current availability of oxygen with the government.

The court also asked the government to inform about the availability of Remdesivir doses and other life-saving drugs, including steroids, which might be required in emergency cases for extreme coronavirus infection.

Apart from these, the High Court has asked for details on special arrangements in hospitals for pediatric coronavirus patients and specialised dedicated wards for them.

While the government has earlier informed about those already vaccinated and a decision to vaccinate people between 18-45 age group free of cost, the High Court asked the government to clarify a rough timeline within which the administration expects to cover a substantial portion of the population eligible for vaccination.

https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/tripura/high-court-seeks-details-of-vaccination-from-tripura-govt-7311262/