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SC seeks Centre's response on plea seeking priority Covid-19 vaccination for pregnant women
A 2-judge bench directed the Union government to file its response within two weeks.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Union government over a petition seeking directions to the latter to classify pregnant women and lactating mothers as “high-risk” category for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), and, as such, give them priority for vaccination against the viral illness, news agency PTI reported.
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A bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice BV Nagarathna directed the Centre to file its response within two weeks over the plea filed by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR).
During the hearing, advocate Vrinda Grover, who appeared on behalf of the child rights body, argued that though the Central government issued guidelines for inoculating pregnant women against Covid-19, it is now being claimed that vaccinating them could lead to “adverse effects.”
“We need to declare women facing such conditions as high-risk categories, and since people are dealing with a virus that they don’t know much about, there is a need to conduct continuous research to observe the effects of vaccination on them,” Grover submitted in the top court, adding that a platform should also be set up to register women, who are expecting, for the purpose of properly monitoring the effects of a Covid-19 jab on them.
Noting that the DCPCR’s appeal was filed in May this year during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the bench sought assistance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the Centre’s top law officer, to apprise it on the policy to administer vaccine shots to pregnant women, and what additional steps can be taken.
On July 2, the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) announced that women who are pregnant will, henceforth, be eligible for the ongoing nationwide inoculation drive, which commenced on January 16. Under the exercise, at least 808,568,144 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the country till now.
