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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to respond on the possibility of framing a policy over the adverse effects, including deaths, of Covid-19 vaccination after being informed about the absence of any such scheme on compensation.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was informed by the Centre, represented by additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, that the pandemic was declared a disaster and the adverse effects following immunisation (AEFI) including deaths were not covered under it and there was no policy for compensation in such cases.
The bench, however, said that Covid-19 deaths and vaccine-related deaths should not be viewed in isolation.
“Ultimately, the entire vaccination drive was a response to the pandemic. You cannot say they are not interlinked,” the bench told the ASG.
The law officer said there was no policy under the Disaster Management Act to deal with the AEFI following the Covid-19 immunisation.
“Covid-19 was declared a disaster, but the vaccination drive was conducted as per the medical protocol. The AEFI mechanism assesses whether a death is directly linked to the vaccine,” she said.
Bhati sought three weeks to respond to the court’s suggestion which was allowed by the bench.
The court fixed the appeal of the Centre against a Kerala High Court order for hearing on March 18.
One Sayeeda K A, whose husband died allegedly due to the side effects of Covid vaccine, had moved the Kerala High Court seeking compensation.
It was alleged that there was no specific policy to deal with the AEFI.
The high court had ordered the National Disaster Management Authority to frame a policy for identifying cases of death due to the after-effects of Covid-19 immunisation and to pay compensation to the kith and kin of the deceased.
The top court took note of the appeal of the Centre and stayed the high court’s decision of 2023.
The Serum Institute of India, which manufactured one of the Covid-19 vaccines, has also filed a transfer petition.