Team News Riveting
Thiruvananthapuram, December 3
The Kerala High Court on Friday upheld the 84-day interval mandated by the Central government between the first and second doses of Covishield vaccine.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly allowed an appeal filed by the Central Government and set aside a single-judge verdict that had granted liberty to the individuals to get the second dose any time after four weeks from the first dose but before the 84-day interval by paying for the vaccine.
The verdict of the Division Bench today underlined that the second dose can only be administered after the completion of the prescribed 84-day period.
Justice PB Suresh Kumar had passed an order on September 3 allowing early administration of the second dose in case of paid jabs and noted that vaccination is voluntary indicates that the interval required by the government can only be considered advisory.
The single-judge’s order was passed on a plea by Kitex Garments Limited seeking to administer the second dose of COVID vaccine to its employees without waiting for the 84-day time gap between two doses as they had already purchased sufficient stocks of the vaccine.
