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Unlike in several countries, including many in the developed world, India's healthcare workers, administrators and policymakers have found creative ways to take on the challenge of vaccine hesitancy.On Monday, the Supreme Court did the right thing in asking the government and private agencies to apply the proportionality principle while applying Covid vaccine-related restrictions. The Court invoked the Puttaswamy verdict of 2017 to say that a person’s “right to bodily integrity and personal autonomy” under Article 21 includes the right to refuse vaccination. But the two-judge bench struck a fine balance between an individual’s right to privacy and public health imperatives. Since infection rates are currently low, the Court asked “all authorities, including private organisations and education authorities to review orders and instructions imposing restrictions on unvaccinated individuals in terms of access to public places, services and resources”. It has clarified that these directives are limited to the “present situation alone” and the executive should not feel that its hands are tied in imposing restrictions on unvaccinated people, “if the situation so warrants”.
In the past three weeks, Covid cases have increased in some parts of the country. Experts have, however, assured that this shouldn’t be a cause of worry because most patients have shown mild symptoms and hospitalisation is negligible. The Court is, therefore, right in ruling “that the vaccine mandates by state governments cannot be said to be proportionate”. The Centre and state governments could also not place before the SC any data to show that unvaccinated people are more likely to transmit the disease compared to those who have received both shots. But this deficit should not be used to cast any shadow on the efficacy of vaccines. Since the last quarter of 2021, it has been evident that vaccinations have prevented the virus from turning virulent in several parts of the world, even when a large number of the inoculated got infected. As the court pointed out, “There is abundant evidence to show that getting vaccinated continues to be the dominant expert advice even in the face of new variants”.
Unlike in several countries, including many in the developed world, India’s healthcare workers, administrators and policymakers have found creative ways to take on the challenge of vaccine hesitancy. It’s a testament to their efforts that close to 85 per cent of the country’s adult population has received both shots of the vaccine. Efforts to build trust in the vaccines must continue with the inoculation project becoming more expansive in recent months with the introduction of “precautionary” third doses and shots for children above the age of 12. The SC has flagged a crucial concern. It has asked the Centre to make post-immunisation data publicly accessible. The CoWin portal shows that only 0.006 per cent of the country’s vaccinated population reported serious reactions after being administered the shots. Reports have, however, shown that the fear of adverse events is among the major reasons for vaccine hesitancy. The Centre should, therefore, show urgency in implementing the SC’s directive. Putting comprehensive data in the public sphere will put the fears of parents to rest.
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