Recently, the Centre during the suo moto hearing of the Supreme Court on COVID-19 crisis management in the country said that the government is confident of vaccinating all its citizens above the age of 18 years against the COVID-19 disease by the end of 2021.
This statement by the government came after the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Centre regarding its vaccination policy and the mandatory registration of the 18-45 age group on the CoWIN portal to receive the coronavirus vaccine. The court even questioned the government why there was a discrepancy in the supply of vaccines to different age groups.
During the hearing, the government explained its plan of vaccinating all citizens and even claimed that the domestic production of vaccines will also satisfy the demands of doses required.
In addition to further prove the point, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the doses produced by the domestic vaccine manufacturers by the end of the year will be enough to vaccinate all over 18 years in the country.
The bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justices S Ravindra Bhat and L Nageswara Rao further added that the government must keep in notice what’s happening across the country and change the existing policies accordingly. The court also commented on the digital divide in the country and recommended the Central government to make changes in its policies regarding the mandatory registration on the CoWIN platform.