The Kerala High Court, on Tuesday, asked the Centre to clarify on what basis the 84-day gap between two doses of Covishield vaccine had been prescribed.

The court said that it wanted to know whether the stipulation of the 84-day interval between the two doses of Covidshield was based on the availability of the vaccine or its efficacy.

Justice PB Suresh Kumar sought clarification on a writ petition by Kitex Garments, Kochi, seeking a directive to the State government to allow it to administer the second dose of Covidshield vaccine to its workers.

The court said if the gap was set based on the availability of vaccines, those willing to buy them could be allowed to take the second shot before completion of the prescribed 84-day gap. In fact, hundreds of persons ready to pay for vaccines were waiting for completion of the gap.

Central govt policy

The State government submitted that it was following the Central government’s vaccine policy, and unless the Centre altered its policy, it could not allow narrowing down the gap. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the Centre had prescribed the policy because the vaccines were supplied by it.

If vaccines could be bought individually, the government should not insist on adhering to the 84-day gap between the two vaccines. Kitex, in its petition, submitted that it had already vaccinated more than 5,000 of its workers with the first dose and had arranged vaccines for the second dose.

However, it was unable to administer the second dose because of the restrictions on administration of vaccines.

The court adjourned the hearing the case to Thursday.

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