Prickly Issue

The selective way in which the government is vaccinating the population came in for stricture from the Delhi High Court which asked it to explain why it was keeping such “strict control” over the process

- Dr KK Aggarwal

THE strict control exercised by the central government over Covid-19 vaccinations has caught the attention of the Delhi High Court. It directed the government to explain the rationale for keeping “strict control” over the class of persons who can be vaccinated presently. It said that the government was either donating the vaccines or selling them to foreign countries rather than inoculating its own people when its approach should be to vaccinate Indians urgently “yesterday and not tomorrow”.

The government had initially vaccinated healthcare and frontline workers and then those above 60 years and/or those above 45 years suffering from comorbidities (see box: Who gets the jab first). But this approach is discriminatory as those below 45 years suffering from comorbidities are not entitled for the vaccine.

The right to adequate healthcare flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all persons. Health is a fundamental human right under Article 21 of the Constitution which has as its prerequisites, social justice and equality. It should be accessible to all.

Even for vaccination, the government should not discriminate between different age groups suffering from comorbidities. Such patients are high-risk and should be vaccinated. Even the list of comorbidities is not exhaustive. Many health problems like asthma are not included in the list.

In fact, the government cannot be the deciding authority regarding who falls under the definition of comorbidity. It is the doctor treating the patient who should decide this.

In medicine, comorbidity is the presence of one or more additional conditions often co-occurring with a primary condition. The term “comorbid” has three definitions: