Gap of COVID -19 vaccine doses is administrative matter and court won't interfere : Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking direction to the authorities to reduce the gap between the second and precautionary dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from nine months to three months for frontline workers and senior citizens. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said it was an administrative decision and the court will not interfere in policy matters.

Medical Dialogues team has recently reported that the Serum Institute has urged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to consider reducing the gap between the second and the precaution dose of Covishield from current nine months to three, in line with Centre's revised guidelines for officials on election duty

Also Read:Reduce gap between doses of Covishield : Serum Institute urges Mansukh Mandaviya

"The high court will be extremely slow in interfering with experts' decisions," the bench said, adding that no proper homework was done before filing the PIL.

When the court said it was inclined to dismiss the petition with costs, the counsel for the petition said he was withdrawing the plea.

Petitioner Dishank Dhawan, in his plea, sought to reduce the gap between the second dose and the precautionary third dose of the vaccine from 39 weeks (9 months) to three months for frontline workers, healthcare workers, and senior citizens.

The plea also sought direction to the government to pass appropriate direction so that immediate family members of frontline workers, healthcare workers, and senior citizens are also given priority while taking the booster dose or precautionary third dose.

The petitioner's counsel said despite various other countries mandating the booster dose (third dose) immediately after 3-4 months of getting the second dose of vaccination to its frontline and healthcare workers, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is mandating a nine-month gap between the two doses.

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