Kerala HC junks pleas seeking review of govt's vaccination norms for students and teachers

The Kerala High Court refused to stay the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government's circular regarding the COVID-19 vaccination norms for students and teachers seeking to enter educational institutions and hostels. It specified that only those who have taken two doses of the vaccine, one dose of vaccine as of September 16, or those who have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection within the previous 90 days will be allowed to enter the higher educational institutions. A bench of Justice PB Suresh Kumar was hearing pleas filed by a group of students and teachers who argued that it is not compulsory to take the vaccine.

Referring to an apex court verdict, the court held that the larger public interest of the community should give way to individual apprehension of violation of human rights and right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. While conceding the right to life includes the right to refuse medical treatment as well, the HC held that the state government's measures cannot be deemed discriminatory in times of the pandemic. At present, there are 77,964 active cases in Kerala whereas 28,592 deaths have been reported. 

COVID-19 vaccination in India

India's vaccine drive against COVID-19 commenced on January 16 with healthcare workers getting vaccinated in the first phase. This was opened up to frontline workers on February 2 while those aged above 60 and above 45 with co-morbidities became eligible for vaccination from March 1. While everyone aged above 45 could get vaccinated from April 1, all adults were added to the vaccination coverage category on May 1. In a huge achievement, India completed administering one crore novel coronavirus vaccine doses on October 21. 

Apart from Covishield and Covaxin, the Drugs Controller General of India has approved Sputnik V, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine, and Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D. As per sources, around 75% of India's eligible adult population has been administered at least one dose of the vaccine while nearly 31% have got jabbed twice. Uttar Pradesh leads in the number of doses administered in India followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. A total of 71,80,83,978 persons have been inoculated whereas 30,50,12,474 of them have received the second dose of the vaccine too.