A Division Bench of Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to consider a plea for including the original brand name of the Covishield vaccine, Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the passport number in the vaccination certificates of Non-Resident Indians.
The Bench comprising Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Kauser Edappagath, while directing the Centre to take a decision on the plea in three weeks, observed that the plea required meritorious consideration.
The order came on a public interest litigation filed by Mustafa Vadakkam Parambil, vice president of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, Jeddah, and another NRI employed in Saudi Arabia.
According to them, non-inclusion of the vaccine name and passport number in the vaccination certificate would affect their travel plan and the prospect of rejoining duties in foreign countries. If passengers were immunised with two doses, several restrictions, including institutional quarantine, imposed by some countries would be relaxed.
The petitioners also pointed out that foreign countries, including the GCC countries, mandatorily required full dose immunisation for foreign travels. Therefore, priority should be given to NRIs in the administration of the second dose of vaccines.
The petitioners also pointed out that as Covaxin had not been recognised by the World Health Organization and included in its emergency vaccine list, most of the foreign countries had not approved the vaccine. The petitioners, therefore, wanted the Centre to take steps to get Covaxin doses recognised internationally.
The Bench asked the Centre to respond to this plea.
