SC seeks Centre's response on plea over COVID vaccination for pregnant & lactating women

The Supreme Court of India on Monday issued a notice to the Centre based on a petition filed by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) over COVID vaccination for pregnant and lactating women. DCPCR's plea sought proper safeguards for such women who were yet to receive vaccinations. The Supreme Court ordered the Centre to respond to the plea within two weeks.

A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna was hearing the petitioner and later sought the assistance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta regarding the policy which has been formulated and the applicable guidelines are yet to be framed. They sought SG Mehta's assistance on the steps to be taken further. 

The order provided by the SC bench stated that DCPCR's plea sought relief in the provided operational guidelines for pregnant and lactating mothers. Furthermore, the Solicitor General was also required to assist the Supreme Court with the formulated policy and the guidelines to be framed.

Meanwhile, DCPCR's advocate Grover it was important to conduct adequate scientific research to understand the effect the COVID vaccine had on pregnant and lactating mothers amid the ongoing battle against the pandemic as not much is known about the virus. Justice Nagarathna further noted that there was a need to create a registry for ensuring continuous monitoring of such women. 

Centre's guidelines for COVID vaccination for pregnant and lactating mothers

The petition under Article 32 which was earlier instituted in May 2021 was followed by some guidelines provided by the Central Government. It was during that time when the country was facing the second wave of COVID. Since then, the DCPCR has approached the SC against the guidelines of the Centre which excluded pregnant and lactating women from obtaining COVID vaccine jabs. 

The petition further demanded developing a medical education material and standard operating protocols (SOPs) for educating women on the side effects of vaccinations, effects of vaccination and also taking their consent before taking it. 

India's COVID situation

India logged 30,256 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours on Monday. This is 1.7% lower than the previous day's figure on Sunday, said the Union Health Ministry. The total number of COVID cases in the country is now 3,34,78,419.

(With ANI inputs, Image: Unsplash)