The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that no individual can be forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19, even as it observed that the Centre’s inoculation policy was not arbitrary. The top court also asked the Centre to make public the data on the adverse on the adverse effects of such an immunisation.
“On the basis of substantial material filed before this court reflecting the near unanimous views of experts on the benefits of vaccination in addressing severe disease from the infection…mortality and stopping new variants from emerging, this court is satisfied that the current vaccination policy of the union of India…cannot be said to be unreasonable or manifestly arbitrary,” the top court observed.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said bodily autonomy and integrity are protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. The top court said the current COVID-19 vaccine policy cannot be said to be manifestly arbitrary and unreasonable.
“Till numbers are low, we suggest that relevant orders are followed and no restriction is imposed on unvaccinated individuals on access to public areas or recall the same if already not done,” the bench said.
Regarding segregation of vaccine trial data, subject to privacy of individuals, all trials conducted and to be subsequently conducted, all data must be made available to the public without further delay, it said.
The apex court also directed the Union of India to publish reports on adverse events of vaccines from the public and doctors on a publicly accessible system without compromising data of individuals. The court delivered the judgement on a plea filed by Jacob Puliyel seeking directions for disclosure of data on clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines and post-jab cases.
from | The Financial Express https://ift.tt/4KihU5R
No comments:
Post a Comment