The Madras High Court on Wednesday expressed doubts over whether people could exercise a right not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when such a refusal could lead to them being silent carriers of the virus, thereby transmitting it to others.
On being told by the State about the hesitation among some to get the jabs, Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy wrote, “Vaccination is not just to protect oneself, but also in the larger interest of public health.”
They went on to state: “When such a larger interest of public health comes into play and it is possible that a person who has not taken the vaccine may not reveal any symptom, but may still be a silent carrier, it is doubtful whether the right to refuse to take the vaccines can be exercised.”
The first Division Bench directed the State to persuade people to get inoculated against COVID-19 by conducting awareness campaigns with scientific data to indicate the efficacy of the vaccines and their indispensable nature in dealing with the pandemic.
The interim direction was issued on a public interest litigation petition filed by a visually challenged advocate, M. Karpagam, through her counsel R. Prabhakaran. The litigant had insisted upon inoculating the differently-abled, and those homebound at their doorsteps.
In reply, Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram listed out the steps taken so far to home vaccinate differently-abled people and the elderly. He said the Greater Chennai Corporation was operating mobile vaccination centres, and Collectors and health officials from other districts had been instructed to get the home- bound vaccinated at the centre closest to their residences.
He said a helpline number, 18004250111, was being operated to guide the differently abled across the State on vaccination. Similarly, those suffering hearing disability had been provided a facility of making WhatsApp video calls to 9700799993 for assistance. The helpline could also been used to make phone calls to the 14,000 differently-abled people in Chennai and provide details to them regarding vaccination, he added.
The Advocate General also submitted a status report filed by Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, who said that there was some hesitancy among persons with disabilities, their families and caretakers in getting vaccinated, considering the co-morbidities that many of them had. “The State government is trying to answer their queries through medical professionals and convince them to take the vaccines,” he has said.
