SC to hear 2 pleas seeking COVID-19 vaccination for all above 18 years of age on April 19

Amid the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases across the country, the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday is all set to hear 2 pleas seeking COVID-19 vaccination for all above 18 years of age. The plea filed by advocate Rashmi Singh said that widespread vaccination of all young and working population is essential to arrest the deadly upsurge of the Coronavirus in its second wave. 

SC to hear 2 pleas seeking COVID vaccine for all today

The petition filed in the court stated that the administration of the vaccine in itself takes between 6 to 8 weeks for both doses and hence by the time the vaccine will reach the age group of 18 years and above, the Coronavirus would have spread rapidly and may give rise to a serious situation. Calling the denial of vaccine to those in the age bracket of 18-45 years "discriminatory and unreasonable", the plea also stated that such denial will also result in infringement of right of health and right to life. 

Besides the 2 petitions filed in the apex court, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had also demanded the Centre to ramp up the COVID-19 vaccination. IMA had also advised the Centre that India needs to administer at least 10 million doses daily to tackle the situation. However, the Central Government is currently making the COVID vaccine available only to those above 45 years of age. 

Delhi CM demands COVID vaccine for all above 18 yrs

Earlier in the first week of April, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to do away with the phased system of vaccination, so that it is available for all citizens, irrespective of their age or health condition. Besides this, he sought relaxation on the opening of new vaccination centres. Putting out his points, he had claimed, "If the conditions for opening new vaccination centres are relaxed and vaccination is opened for all, then Delhi Govt will be able to vaccinate all citizens of Delhi within 3 months."

The Delhi CM had said, "In the battle against Corona, the Centre has cooperated with the Delhi government at every step. I hope that you will consider these points so that Corona can be fought effectively."

COVID-19 situation in India

As the world continues to battle against the Coronavirus pandemic, India so far has recorded over 1,47,88,109 positive cases, out of which 1,28,09,643 have successfully recovered and 1,77,150 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours2,61,500 new cases, 1,38,423 fresh recoveries and 1,501 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in India is 18,01,316.

(Image: PTI-Representative)