Ensure incorrect details on vaccine certificates rectified: Bombay HC
The HC also asked Centre to inform it about the distribution of vaccines to all states including Maharashtra after it was told that vaccination at various places in the state was intermittently being stopped in the past month due to shortage in supply of vials.
3 min read
A division bench of Justice Prasanna Varale and Surendra Tavade heard the plea last week argued by lawyer Gayatri Singh, representing Bhelke.(File)The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the Central and State governments to take measures to rectify the errors in vaccination certificates issued through CoWin portal, after it was informed that the certificates issued to a few beneficiaries consisted of the same date and batch numbers for both the doses besides incorrect names being mentioned in some certificates.
The Court also asked the Central government to inform it about the distribution of vaccines to all states including Maharashtra after it was told by the petitioners that vaccination drives at various places in Maharashtra were intermittently being stopped in the past month due to shortage in supply of vials.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni was hearing a PIL filed by Yogeeta Vanzara, through advocates Rajesh Vanzara and Jamsheed Master. The plea raised several issues related to CoWIN, seeking orderly administration of jabs. The HC was also hearing a PIL filed by Mumbai-based lawyer Siddharth Chandrashekhar, represented by advocate Anita Shekhar-Castellino seeking the court’s intervention on issues faced while booking slots on the CoWin portal and priority vaccination slots for the elderly.
Additional Government Pleader Geeta Shastri, representing Maharashtra government, informed the bench that the state, which had a population of approximately 12 crore people, had over 9 crore people who were eligible for vaccination. Of these, 3.36 crore people have got at least one dose of the jab while 1.13 crore people had received both the doses, Shastri said, adding nearly 42 per cent of the eligible population has received the first dose.
A medical officer of the state government present in the court told the bench that as on date, nearly 20 lakh people in the city were due to receive their second dose, but only five to seven lakh jabs were being provided on daily basis.
The petitioners also pointed out that some citizens, who got Covishield vaccines, were issued vaccination certificates with errors such as incorrect names and same date and batch number of vaccines being mentioned in both the certificates.
“We require the Union government and state to clarify as to how such defective certificates could be generated and what could be the procedure for having them corrected. We issue general directions. In case such difficulties are seen in future, immediate steps should be taken to make corrections and actual date and names be mentioned in the certificate,” the bench said.
Seeking Centre’s response on state-wise distribution of vaccines and making rectification in vaccine certificates by August 9, and state government’s reply to the plea by August 13, the Court posted further hearing to August 23.
You May Like
