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The Kerala High Court has held that individuals availing the Covishield vaccine privately, have the right to choose when to get the second dose after four weeks from the first dose.

This means that individuals may get fully inoculated 4 weeks after their first dose of Covishield, but before the 84-day interval mandated by the Central Government.

The petitioners in the matter, are two garment companies, namely Kitex Garments Ltd. and Kitex Childrenswear Ltd. They had taken it upon themselves to vaccinate their 10,000+ workers for their safety and well-being.

The petitioner in their plea argued that,

“...the State Government issued Ext.P2 order on 28.5.2021, permitting those who want to go abroad to administer the second dose of Covishield vaccine after 4 weeks without registration in the CoWIN portal. In the light of Ext.P2 Order, the petitioners submitted Ext.P4 representation to the State Government, seeking permission to administer the second dose of the vaccine to the beneficiaries after four weeks.

It was further alleged by the petitioners that, through this plea they sought directions to the respondents to accord them sanction to administer the second dose of the Covishield vaccine to the workers and their close family members who have completed 4 weeks of administering the first dose.

To this the Assistant Solicitor General argued that,

“...the decision to administer the second dose of vaccine after an interval of 12 weeks was arrived at after considering W.P.(C) No.16501 of 2021 8 substantial scientific evidence and expert opinion to ensure best protection for the whole population and even if the petitioners do have a right to choose between best protection and early protection, the said right cannot be exercised, if the exercise of the said right by the petitioners would affect the right of the general public to secure maximum protection against Covid-19.”

The Bench after hearing both sides observed that vaccination itself is not a compulsion but voluntary and makes the mandate of the government on the interval only advisory.

The Court further observed, that if the Government can permit persons who are intending to travel abroad, to exercise a choice between early protection and better protection from Covid-19 infection, there is absolutely no reason why the same privilege shall not be extended to others who want early protection in connection with their employment, education, etc.

In light of the above, the Court directed the Central Government to make necessary provisions forthwith in the CoWIN portal that enables scheduling of second dose of Covishield vaccine after four weeks of the first dose for those who want to accept the second dose after a period of four weeks.

However, the Court has not made a decision on whether individuals have the right to choose between ‘early protection’ and ‘better protection’.

[Case Title - Kitex Garments Ltd. v. State of Kerala]