Chennai: The Kerala High Court directed the central government to allow the scheduling of the second dose of the CoviShield vaccine on the CoWIN portal four weeks after the first dose of the vaccine.
Currently, one can register for the second dose of Covishield after a gap of 84 days as suggested by the Centre.
The High Court gave this direction while hearing a petition by Kitex Garments Ltd, seeking permission to give its employees the second dose of Kovishield vaccine before 84 days.
As per reports, the matter came up for hearing before Justice PB Suresh Kumar, who said that if the state and central governments allow vaccination to get the COVID-19 vaccine earlier, for better and speedy protection for people traveling abroad If you can give, there is no reason not to provide. Equal privileges to those in the country who want speedy security because of their education or employment.
The High Court also said that people should have the option of getting the vaccine early as per the policy of the Union Health Ministry and for the implementation of this scheme, the vaccines have already been distributed on payment basis through private hospitals.
The court said, the central government should give necessary directions in the CoWIN portal for prescribing the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine four weeks after the first vaccine, as in the initial protocol of the vaccination campaign.
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However, the Center opposed the plea saying that the 84-day gap was to enhance the efficacy of the vaccine as recommended by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration and the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group.
However, Kitex in the petition said that the company vaccinated 5,000 workers with the first vaccine dose and arranged for the second dose of COVID-19 at a cost of Rs 93 lakh. However, the company could not administer the dosage due to protocol.
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