Thread by @saikatd

Very important order from the Supreme Court and definitely worth reading. Will tweet some excerpts for about the issues raised. As usual, Justice Chandrachud and his colleagues on the Bench have brought in a lot of clarity #Thread #COVID19 #vaccination
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The SC settles that #vaccination is a central government responsibility: "Thus, the management of the pandemic, control of the spread of COVID-19, vaccination policy and pricing, are the responsibility of the Central Government," which must work with State Govts 2/n

The quota of 25% to States, the SC says, "is extremely disproportionate and not in touch with societal realities". So the "quota available to the private hospitals must be reduced" 3/n

SC says, there seems to be a contradiction in the central govt's stance: "it will refrain from interfering in the issue of vaccine distribution." But "Contrarily, stated that it may decide to redistribute the vaccines procured by it among State Govts" 4/n

Therefore, the "The basis on which the re-distribution of vaccines will take place among States/UTshas not been provided in the policy document". This needs to be clarified 5/n

GoI has stated that all Indians will be vaccinated by end-December 2021. SC notes: "However, no projections have been shared with this Court regarding how this target would be achieved." This is worrying. The next para shows even covering 18-44 group is doubtful 6/n

"There is material to suggest that augmentation of vaccine production will be **inadequate** to vaccinate" 18-44 age group." Total population: 59 crores. SSI & BBI can produce less than 10 crore doses per month. SC estimates min 12 months even with Sputnik 7/n

SC on critical issue around differential pricing: "The only room for negotiation with the manufacturers was on price and quantity, both of which have been pre-fixed. This casts serious doubts on UoI's justification for enabling higher prices as a competitive measure."8/n

"Furthermore, the Central Governmentjustifying its lower prices on account of its ability to place large purchase orders for vaccines,raises the issue as to why this rationale is not being employed for acquiring 100% of themonthly CDL doses." 9/n

"The Union Budget for Financial Year 2021-2022 earmarked Rs 35000 crores for procuring vaccines...the Central Government is directed to clarify how these funds have been spent so far and why they cannot be utilized for vaccinating persons aged 18-44 years." 10/n

And here is the nub as the SC cites Article 14 of the Constitution. What Article 14 says: "“The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” 11/n

Therefore, SC says: "it is important for us to examine the rationality of the existing Liberalized Vaccination Policy against Article 14 of the Constitution, since it could place severe burdens, particularly on States suffering from financial distress." 12/n

While GoI has stated that vaccine manufacturers took substantial risk, the SC is not agreeing with that submission "It may not be accurate to state that the private entities have alone borne the risk and cost of manufacture." Public (Taxpayer) money is involved, SC says 13/n

"Since Central Gov financed (Rs 35 cr BBIL and Rs 11 cr SII for phase 3 clinical trials) & facilitated prodn (or augmentation of prodn) of these vaccines through concessions, not accurate to state that private entities have alone borne the risk and cost of manufacture." 14/n

On the use of CoWin App, SC cites various reports on internet availability. Here is one stat in the order: " approximately 13,000 Gram Panchayats in India do not have a Common Service Centres". 15/n

SC clearly finds that: "there exists a digital divide in India, particularly between rural and urban areas. A vaccination policy exclusively relying on a digital portal for vaccinating significant population would be unable to meet its target of universal immunization" 16/n

SC: "It may not be feasible to require the majority of our population to rely on friends/NGOs for digital registrations over CoWIN, when even the digitally literate are finding it hard to procure vaccination slots." 17/n

Finally, the SC poses future questions: "The data on the percentage of population that has been vaccinated (with one dose and both doses), as against eligible persons in the first three phases of the vaccination drive." Note emphasis on **percentage of population** 17/n

SC's Query 2: "The complete data on the Central Government's purchase history of all the COVID-19 vaccines till date (Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik V). 18/n

SC Query 3: "An outline for how and when the Central Government seeks to vaccinate the remaining population in phases 1, 2 and 3." 19/n

SC Query 4: "The steps being taken by the Central Government to ensure drug availability for mucormycosis." 20/n

Lastly, SC directs to States: "We also note that UoI‟s stated position in its affidavit is that every States shall provide vaccination free of cost to its population. It is important that individual State/UT Governments confirm/deny this position before this Court." ENDS