The Madras High Court on Friday impressed upon the Centre the need for ensuring equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and oxygen to all the States and Union Territories in the country.
The court hoped that the Centre would inform the Tamil Nadu government and the Puducherry administration, at least by Monday, on the number of vaccine doses that would be allotted to them for the universal adult inoculation drive, set to begin from Saturday.
Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy made the observation after Additional Solicitor General R. Sankaranarayanan sought time to submit the number of vaccine doses and Remdesivir vials that had been allocated by the Centre to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Advocate-General Vijay Narayan said though the State government had ordered 2.5 lakh vials of Remedesivir, only 59,000 had been allotted so far.
“Due to the inadequate allotment, the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation is drawing from its own reserve stocks and continuing the supply of the drug for the benefit of patients admitted to private hospitals, at the cost price of ₹1,568 a vial, at a counter established on the campus of the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. So far, 8,750 vials have been provided to the needy,” the A-G said, responding to a suo motu public interest litigation petition taken up by the court.
Pointing out that the government could not continue selling its reserve drugs, meant for patients in government hospitals to those in private facilities for long, the A-G said the government had already written to the Centre, seeking the augmentation of supplies. As and when the State receives more vials, it will consider establishing similar counters in other major cities, the court was told.
State’s oxygen needs
Further, stating that the oxygen requirement in the State had crossed 385 tonnes a day, the A-G said the requirement was being met by fully utilising the manufacturing capacity in the State and by drawing the gas from Puducherry.
The allotment of 280 tonnes to Tamil Nadu under the national oxygen plan was disproportionately low compared to the State’s active case load and, therefore, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had opposed the diversion of oxygen to other States, he added.
It was also brought to the notice of the court that 280 government hospitals and 463 private facilities were providing COVID-19 treatment in the State.
Of the 1.72 lakh beds available in all the 743 hospitals and COVID-19 care centres, 1.01 lakh had been demarcated for COVID-19 patients, the A-G said. Besides 36,223 oxygen beds, 7,405 ICU beds and 6,517 ventilators were available for such patients, he added.
Considering the demand, 12,527 oxygen beds were being added in 38 districts, and of these, 576 had been put to use. Further, 3,676 beds were expected to be ready by Friday, and the rest by May 7, the A-G said, referring to a report filed by Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan. After hearing him, the judges adjourned the case to Wednesday for obtaining details from the Centre.