No individual can be forced to get vaccinated: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court also directed the Centre to publish reports on adverse events of vaccines from people and doctors on a publicly accessible system, without compromising data of the individuals reporting them.

Moneycontrol News

May 02, 2022 / 11:30 IST

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No individual can be forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as “bodily autonomy and integrity is a part of the fundamental right to life under Article 21” of the Constitution, the Supreme Court said on May 2 at a hearing on the government's current policy.

The Supreme Court also directed the Centre to publish reports on adverse events of vaccines from people and doctors on a publicly accessible system, without compromising data of the individuals reporting them.

It has also directed all authorities and educational institutions, including the private ones, “to review all vaccine mandates if not already recalled".

Also Read: COVID-19 update | NTAGI recommends Covovax for use in 12-17-year-olds in India

The government’s current vaccine policy has been found by the court to be not "unreasonable", considering the seriousness of illness, reduction in oxygen levels, mortality rate, and expert opinion, the court said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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