A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to Centre, Delhi govt for deciding upon the beneficiaries of Covid-19 vaccination drive.
It also seeks to widen and allow private entities participation in vaccination drive, and carry out door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination in the NCT of Delhi in light of the extremely alarming situation of resurgence of coronavirus cases.
The plea filed through Advocates Kushal Kumar, Harsh Ahuja, Aaditya Gupta and Akash Deep Gupta seeking directions on the Union of India through Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Government of NCT of Delhi to remove the age limitations for deciding the beneficiaries of Covid-19 vaccination drive, widen and allow private entities participation in vaccination drive, and carry out door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination in national capital in light of the extremely alarming situation of resurgence of coronavirus cases.
“…the current vaccination drive covers only people above the age of 45 years who are eligible for vaccination by visiting the designated Covid-19 vaccination centers. However, considering the ever-rising number of coronavirus cases, availability of infrastructure and resources, and in a situation where the governments have ruled out the possibilities of lockdown, expanding the reach of vaccination drive is the only solution to meet the ends,” the petition states.
The plea further states that states like Delhi, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan have requested the Central Government to remove the age restrictions for the purposes of vaccination, the petition states that the Central Government has denied such requests. Moreover it has been states that even the Indian Medical Association has submitted requests to the government to remove the age barrier and involve more private entities for effective immunization of the population.
Petitioner Mrigank Mishra has sought court’s direc relax/ remove the age criterion in relation to the beneficiaries of Covid-19 vaccination drive.
It has also sought for court’s direction to allow more private sector participation in the vaccination drive in Delhi.
Read Also: Video: SC on Rohingya, SC on Anil Deshmukh’s plea
The petitioner also requested the court to direct the respondents to formulate a policy to provide the benefits of vaccination drive to senior citizens, differently-abled people, and poor sections of the society by initiating door-to-door vaccination services in NCT of Delhi.