The Supreme Court ruled today in a landmark decision on India’s Covid vaccine policy that no one can be forced to take the vaccine. The court also ordered the central government to publish reports on the vaccine’s side effects.
The Supreme Court stated, “Body integrity is protected by law, and no one can be forced to be vaccinated.” However, the court stated that in the interest of community health, “certain limitations on individual rights” could be imposed.
“Unless there is Covid-appropriate behaviour,” the Supreme Court said, “we suggest no restrictions on unvaccinated individuals’ access to public places, services, or resources if cases are few.”
The court stated that restrictions imposed on individuals through vaccine mandates cannot be called proportionate, a reference to many states requiring people to get the Covid shot in order to enter public places. “We recommend that individuals’ access to public places, services, and resources be unrestricted until infection levels are low. If you’ve already done so, recall it “The Supreme Court made the decision.
The directives of Supreme Court Justices LN Rao and BR Gavai did not extend to Covid-appropriate behaviour, but rather to vaccines in the “rapidly evolving situation.”
The Supreme Court also ordered the Centre to publish reports on vaccine-related adverse events from people and doctors on a publicly accessible system, without jeopardising the confidentiality of the reports.
“With respect to the segregation of vaccine trial data, all trials already conducted and to be conducted in the future, all data must be made available to the public without further delay,” the court said.
“In the case of children’s vaccines, we cannot second-guess the opinions of experts, and the vaccination follows global standards and practises. However, data on adverse reactions should be made public as soon as possible.”
