Gujarat HC pulls up state government for slow vaccination

The Gujarat High Court slammed the slow pace of vaccination, saying the state may need five years to vaccinate its entire population.

The court sought to know the volume of Covid-19 vaccines procured by the state, to which advocate general Kamal Trivedi said the government has procured 1,368,650 doses of Covishield vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, and 249,240 doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech in May. He said the total 1,617,890 vaccines will suffice till May 31, after which the state will receive 830,140 doses of Covishield and 246,880 doses of Covaxin in June, totalling 1,077,020 doses. At this point Justice Bhargav Karia commented that the state has “five-year plans”. Stating that “beggars don’t have a choice,” Trivedi said the state is at the mercy of the two manufacturers of vaccines.