No forced jabs, vax papers not a must

New Delhi: As India completes a year of Covid-19 inoculation programme, the Union government told the Supreme Court that it has not issued any guidelines that envisage vaccination without consent or make a vaccination certificate mandatory for any purpose.

In an affidavit filed on January 13, the Union Health Ministry said that "no person can be forced to be vaccinated against their wishes". It also said that "the Government of India has not issued any SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) which make carrying of vaccination certificate mandatory for any purpose."

"It is humbly submitted that the direction and guidelines released by the Government of India and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, do not envisage any forcible vaccination without obtaining consent of the concerned individual," the ministry said.

Underlining that "vaccination for Covid-19 is of larger public interest in view of the ongoing pandemic situation", the Union government said: "It is duly advised, advertised and communicated through various print and social media platforms that all citizens should get vaccinated and systems and processes have been designed to facilitate the same. However, no person can be forced to be vaccinated against their wishes."

It said that the government has formulated operational guidelines for Covid-19 vaccination according to which "all beneficiaries are to be informed about adverse events which may occur after Covid-19 vaccine".

Meanwhile, many State governments and businesses have been seeking to enforce vaccine mandates, restricting the entry of the unvaccinated to public places.

Some States have even issued orders to disincentivise the refusal of vaccination by citizens. Maharashtra had said that only fully vaccinated individuals would be allowed on local trains, and the Kerala government had said the State would not bear the cost of Covid-19 treatment for unvaccinated individuals.

The Centre's affidavit was filed in a matter in which the court had permitted the petitioner — Evara Foundation — to formulate any concrete steps to strengthen the existing framework for facilitating the vaccination of disabled persons, and to ensure that they have proper access to the process.

For persons with disabilities who do not have any of the prescribed ID cards, provisions had been made "by following Facilitated Cohort Registration process on Co-WIN", the government said.