Supreme Court Pulls up Central Govt Over Differential Covid-19 Vaccine Pricing

Supreme Court Pulls up Central Govt Over Differential Covid-19 Vaccine Pricing

        A bench, headed by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, maintained that “there are several aspects of the vaccine pricing policy adopted by the Central government which require that policy be revisited,” in particular the rationale behind letting the manufacturers determine the vaccine prices for states and other private entities.

       “All vaccines, whether in the quantity of 50% purchased by the Central government or the remaining 50%, are to be used for vaccinating citizens. The end use is the same,” noted the bench, adding that to compel the states to negotiate with manufacturers on the ground of promoting competition and making it attractive for new vaccine manufactures will result in a serious detriment to those in the age group of 18 to 44 years, who will be vaccinated by the state governments.

         The bench, which included justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat, further underscored that the social strata of this age group comprised persons who are Bahujans or belong to other under privileged and marginalised groups.

        The court asserted that vaccinations being provided to citizens constitute a valuable public good and thus, discrimination cannot be made between different classes of citizens who are similarly circumstanced on the ground that while the Centre will carry the burden of providing free vaccines for the 45 years and above population, the state governments will discharge the responsibility of the 18 to 44 age group on such commercial terms as they may negotiate.

       “While we are not passing a conclusive determination on the constitutionality of the current policy, the manner in which the current policy has been framed would prima facie result in a detriment to the right to public health which is an integral element of Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. Therefore, we believe that the Central government should consider revisiting its current vaccine policy to ensure that it withstands the scrutiny of Articles 14 (equality) and Article 21 of the Constitution,” said the bench, in its order which was released on Sunday evening.

(Source: Hindustan Times)