Observing orally that the Centre’s vaccination policy has created two classes of citizens — those who received Covaxin and whose movements are restricted and those who received internationally approved Covishield and can go anywhere — the Kerala High Court on Monday said this was violative of the fundamental rights of a citizen.
Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan made the observations when a writ petition filed by Girikumar Thekkan of Kannur seeking permission to revaccinate himself with Covishield vaccine came up for hearing.
The court observed that the Centre should resolve the issue within one month or the court would have to direct the Government to pay the salary earned by the petitioner from a company in Saudi Arabia where he could not go as he had received Covaxin.
The plight of a Non-Resident Indian who was unable to return to his workplace due to the administration of Covaxin was a clear case of infringement of his fundamental right to movement. His very right to movement was restricted. A citizen was suffering due to a State-sponsored vaccination scheme, the court orally observed.
Counsel for the Centre submitted that the COVID-19 vaccination programme was an evolving one guided by constant and systematic review, taking into account emerging scientific evidence, vaccine availability, experience on the ground, and global best practices. In fact, no authorised study had so far recognised the efficiency of a booster dose and that side-effects of the same were unknown.
Counsel pointed out that a similar case was pending before the Supreme Court in which the apex court had decided to wait for the approval of the vaccine from the World Health Organization before finalising a decision in the matter.