Centre to Kerala High Court: No fixed target of vaccine doses for states

The Centre told the Kerala High Court on Monday that there was no fixed target of Covid-19 vaccine doses planned for states.

“It is humbly submitted that at present, there is no target fixed for dispensation of vaccines to States/ UTs,” the central government said in an affidavit.

The Centre’s response was to a query made by the high court as to why Kerala had received only 3 lakh vaccine doses a month against the state’s demand of one crore doses.

“We are not being parochial, but would like to know why Kerala is not getting its share,” a Bench comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and Dr Kauser Edappagath had said. The Bench had also sought a projection of a timeline for the distribution of vaccines for states.

The Kerala High Court is hearing at least four cases, including a suo-motu petition on vaccine distribution in the country. Among other aspects, the pleas challenge the central government’s Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy, which leaves it to the states to procure vaccines directly for the 18-44 age group.

Explaining the basis of distribution to states, the Centre told the court that the vaccines for those above 45 were allocated to states on the “basis of their average consumption on fortnightly basis”, while for the 18-44 group, it was worked out on the basis of population eligible for inoculation.

Another Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday questioned the Centre on why the vaccine was not free for all age groups. When the Centre cited its policy in which states are to directly procure from manufacturers for the 18-44 age group, the court said “it is not the time to talk about federalism”.