New Delhi: The centre on Tuesday clarified in the Supreme Court that it has not made COVID-19 vaccines mandatory and has only said that the vaccination should be 100 per cent.
The clarification from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, came after Additional Advocate General for Tamil Nadu Amit Anand Tiwari told a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai that the union government had issued a mandate to us that 100 per cent people should be vaccinated. "Milords one clarification... that the State of Tamil Nadu said they made it mandatory as the Centre said 100 per cent vaccination. This is not a mandate. The Centre has not issued any mandate, the stand of centre is that it should be 100 per cent but it is not a mandate," Mehta told the top court which reserved its order on the plea seeking directions for disclosure of data on clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines and post-jab cases.
At the outset, Tiwari submitted that Tamil Nadu has come out with the vaccination mandate for the reason that vaccination against COVID-19 is essential to prevent serious disease in the population. He said that the vaccination mandate is in larger public interest with a view to provide security from higher epidemics.
"I have submitted expert reports. Unvaccinated people are the cause of mutation of viruses ... Where there is a likelihood that it would infect others or if there is a likelihood of spread, we have the power to issue such mandates... There is enough evidence to show that vaccines are preventing serious disease.
"It is further submitted that these provisions are also designed to nudge the public into getting vaccinated to stop the spread of disease. They are passed not only for the safety of the concerned individual but also serve a greater purpose of ensuring the safety of others," he said. The counsel for Maharashtra government also justified the state government orders which mandated the taking of COVID vaccines to access public areas.
Vaccine manufactures Bharat Biotech Ltd and Serum Institute of India also opposed the plea and said the petition purporting to be in public interest, is liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs for espousing a private motive and attempting to cause vaccine hesitancy and public hysteria in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic.