Vax certificate not mandatory, can't jab against will: Government to Supreme Court

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 17

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that no person could be administered Covid-19 vaccine against his/her will even as it said people to get vaccinated in the larger public interest.

In an affidavit filed in the top court, the Union Health Ministry said the government had not issued any SOP which made it mandatory for anybody to carry vaccination certificate for any purpose.

The affidavit has been filed in response to NGO Evara Foundation’s petition seeking door-to-door priority Covid-19 vaccination for persons with disabilities.

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The affidavit said, “It is duly advised, advertised and communicated through various print and social media platforms that all citizens should get vaccinated and systems and processes have been designed to facilitate the same. However, no person can be forced to be vaccinated against their wishes.”

The Union Health Ministry submitted that “the direction released by the Government of India did not envisage any forcible vaccination without consent of the individual”.

Meanwhile, Dr Jacob Puliyel, former member of the National Technical Advisory Group of Immunisation, has moved the top court challenging the vaccine mandates issued by the governments of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Dr Puliyel, who urged the court to issue directions to publicise the data of clinical trials of vaccines administered to children, said the Centre has said vaccination was voluntary and can’t be mandated at this stage. Contending that children were incapable of legal consent to the vaccines, he said the parents who gave consent on their behalf were incapable of giving “informed consent” in the absence of studies.

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