Kerala HC asks Centre to allow 2nd dose of Covishield after four weeks of first dose

The Kerala High Court yesterday allowed petitions filed by two private companies seeking directions to permit them to administer Covishield vaccine to their employees before the 84-day interval between two doses.

 

Justice P.B. Suresh Kumar directed the Union Government to make necessary provisions in the CoWIN portal, to enable scheduling of second dose of the Covishield vaccine after four weeks of the first dose for those who wanted to do so.

 

The Union Government had earlier argued that that the 84- day gap was decided on the basis of the recommendation of an Expert



Committee.

 

It said, the interval increased the efficacy of the vaccine and offered better protection.

 

The court noted that relaxing the time interval for certain classes like students, sports persons and others travelling abroad for jobs while denying it to others, amounted to discrimination.

 

The single bench, however, made it clear that it has not considered the question whether a person is entitled to make a choice between early protection and better protection from COVID- 19 infection in the matter of accepting the free vaccine provided by the government.