A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday adjourned to Thursday the hearing on an appeal filed by the Centre against a single judge’s verdict allowing those willing to take a second paid dose of Covishield vaccine four weeks after the first jab, instead of the stipulated 84-day gap.
The single judge had also directed the Central government to make necessary provisions in the CoWIN portal to enable those who wanted to take the second Covishield jab after four weeks.
The single-judge directive came on a writ petition filed by Kitex Garments Limited and Kitex Childrenswear Limited, Kochi, seeking a directive to the Centre to allow its workers to receive the second shot of Covishield before completing the stipulated 84-day gap between the two doses.
When the appeal came up, the Bench, comprising Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chali, asked the companies to furnish the details regarding the number of employees who had already received the second jab following the directive.
Centre’s contention
The Centre contended that the 12-week interval, which was based on a scientific study, meant that better immunity would be provided only 12 weeks after the first jab and not before. Hence, any insistence on taking the second dose prior to 12 weeks would actually impede the development of immunity.
