Source: The Hindu
- Prelims: Current events of national importance, Government policies, Covid-19 vaccination, Covid-19, Disaster Management Act).
- Mains GS Paper II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementations, Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, Significance of Vaccine policy.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- The recent Supreme Court verdict upholding the government’s current vaccination policy.
- The court held that restrictions imposed by States and Union Territories on unvaccinated individuals cannot be said to be proportionate as they sought to invade an individual’s bodily integrity and personal autonomy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
Covid-19
- The novel coronavirus outbreak in 2019-2020 with the nickname COVID-19 is a new strain of viruses which can cause fever, cough, breathing difficulties, pneumonia and even death in humans.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak 2019–20 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) initially, and later declared it as a pandemic.
- WHO declared COVID-19 infections as a public health emergency of international concern and later called it a pandemic.
- Coronavirus consists of an RNA genome and is one of the largest in the RNA family.
- Coronaviruses are enveloped and contain single-stranded positive-sense RNA.
Covid-19 Vaccines in India:
COVISHIELD:
- It is an Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine candidate which is technically referred to as AZD1222 or ChAdOx 1 nCoV19.
- Serum Institute of India (SII) is the manufacturing partner in India.
- It is based on a weakened version of a common cold virus or the adenovirus that is found in chimpanzees.
- The viral vector contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein present on the outer surface of the virus that helps it bind with the human cell.
COVAXIN:
- It is India’s indigenous Covid-19 vaccine.
- It was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute of Virology, Pune
- It is an inactivated vaccine which is developed by killing the live microorganisms that cause the disease.
- This destroys the ability of the pathogen to replicate, but keeps it intact so that the immune system can still recognise it and produce an immune response.
- It targets more than just the spike protein.
- It also develops an immune response to the nucleocapsid protein.
Sputnik V Vaccine:
- Developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow.
- It uses two different viruses that cause the common cold (adenovirus) in humans. The adenoviruses are weakened so they cannot replicate in humans and cannot cause disease.
- Sputnik uses a different vector for each of the two shots in a course of vaccination providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.
- The Lancet, have found it has an efficacy of 6%.
Corbevax – Protein Subunit Vaccine:
- Instead of the whole virus, it uses fragments of it to trigger an immune response.
- In this case, the subunit vaccine contains a harmless Spike (S) protein.
- The S protein plays a crucial role in penetrating host cells and initiating infection.
- Once the immune system recognises the protein, it produces antibodies to fight a real infection when it happens.
Covavax – Recombinant Nanoparticle Vaccine:
- Manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII).
- It is a protein subunit vaccine, but uses Recombinant Nanoparticle Technology (RNT). It has been developed by US-based Novavax.
- This technology teaches the body how to develop immunity against the virus using spike protein.
- Copies of the spike protein are grown in insect cells; the protein is then extracted and assembled into virus-like nanoparticles.
- The same technology is used in HPV and the Hepatitis B
Vaccine Hesitancy:
- Vaccine Hesitancy is delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite the availability of vaccination services(WHO).
- Reasons for Vaccine Hesitancy
- Misinformation
- Lack of trust in safety and efficacy of the vaccine
- Fear of side-effects
- Socio-political notions
- Inconvenience of getting vaccinated
- Absence of incentives
Arguments for making Vaccination Mandatory:
- Right to Life supersedes Right to Freedom: Right to bodily autonomy or individual freedom are aspects of the right to privacy under article 21 which is inferior to the right of life of other people.
- Public Health: Vaccination can be made compulsory since those not vaccinated are threats to others’ rights to life for larger public good.
- Falls within the Domain of Government: It is within the authority of the Centre and states to make vaccination compulsory since the Constitution arms them with the status of parens patriae (parents of the nation).
- No incentives: There cannot be a bigger incentive than the government giving vaccines free to citizens where their lives can be saved.
Arguments against making Vaccination Mandatory:
- Bodily integrity is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution and no individual can be forced to be vaccinated.
- Personal autonomy of an individual, encompasses the right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment in the sphere of individual health”.
Inactivated vaccines:
● Inactivated vaccines use the killed version of the germ that causes a disease.
● Vaccines of this type are created by inactivating a pathogen, typically using heat or chemicals such as formaldehyde or formalin.
● This destroys the pathogen’s ability to replicate, but keeps it “intact” so that the immune system can still recognize it. (“Inactivated” is generally used rather than “killed” to refer to viral vaccines of this type, as viruses are generally not considered to be alive.)
● They usually don’t provide immunity (protection) that’s as strong as live vaccines. So you may need several doses over time (booster shots) in order to get ongoing immunity against diseases.
● They are Used to protect: Hepatitis A, Flu (shot only), Polio (shot only), Rabies.
Live-attenuated Vaccines:
● Live vaccines use a weakened (or attenuated) form of the germ that causes a disease.
● Because these vaccines are so similar to the natural infection that they help prevent, they create a strong and long-lasting immune response.
● The limitation of this approach is that these vaccines usually cannot be given to people with weakened immune systems.
● Live vaccines are used against: Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR combined vaccine), Rotavirus, Smallpox among others.
Messenger (m) RNA Vaccines:
● mRNA vaccines make proteins in order to trigger an immune response.
● mRNA vaccines have several benefits compared to other types of vaccines, including shorter manufacturing times and, because they do not contain a live virus, no risk of causing disease in the person getting vaccinated.
● The vaccines are used to protect against: Covid-19.
Subunit, Recombinant, Polysaccharide, and Conjugate Vaccines:
● They use specific pieces of the germ – like its protein, sugar, or capsid (a casing around the germ). They give a very strong immune response.
● They can also be used on people with weakened immune systems and long-term health problems.
● These vaccines are used to protect against: Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) disease, Hepatitis B, HPV (Human papillomavirus), Pneumococcal disease among others.
Toxoid Vaccines:
● They use a toxin (harmful product) made by the germ that causes a disease.
● They create immunity to the parts of the germ that cause a disease instead of the germ itself. That means the immune response is targeted to the toxin instead of the whole germ.
● Toxoid vaccines are used to protect against: Diphtheria, Tetanus.
Viral Vector Vaccines:
● Viral vector vaccines use a modified version of a different virus as a vector to deliver protection.
● Several different viruses have been used as vectors, including influenza, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), measles virus, and adenovirus, which causes the common cold.
● Adenovirus is one of the viral vectors used in some Covid-19 vaccines being studied in clinical trials.
● The vaccines are used to protect against Covid-19
Article 21 (Protection of Life and Personal Liberty):
● It declares that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
● This right is available to both citizens and non-citizens.
● The right to life is not merely confined to animal existence or survival but also includes the right to live with human dignity and all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful, complete and worth living.
Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act)
● It is invoked to manage disasters, including preparation of mitigation strategies, capacity-building.
● Section 2 (d) of the DM Act states that a disaster means a “catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man made causes.
● The Act designates the Ministry of Home Affairs as the nodal ministry for steering the overall national disaster management.
● The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is tasked with laying down disaster management policies and ensuring timely and effective response mechanisms.
● An institutional systematic structure at the national, state and district levels.
Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897
● The Epidemic Diseases Act aims to provide for the better prevention of the spread of dangerous epidemic diseases.
● Temporary provisions or regulations can be made to be observed by the public to tackle or prevent the outbreak of a disease.
● It contains four sections.
Section 1: Describes the title and extent of the Act
It extends to the whole of India.
Section 2: Powers to take special measures
>It empowers the state governments to tackle special measures and formulate regulations to contain the outbreak.
>Section 2A of the Act empowers the central government to take steps to prevent the spread of an epidemic.
>Health is a State subject, but by invoking Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, advisories and directions of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare will be enforceable.
Section 3: Penalty for Disobedience
The penalties for disobeying any regulation or order made under the Act are according to section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant).
Section 4: Legal Protection to Implementing Officers:
It gives legal protection to the implementing officers acting under the Act.
Way Forward
- Addressing the issues associated with the development and distribution of vaccines will augment the effort to efficiently get vaccines to hundreds of millions in the shortest period of time.
- Vaccine Prioritization: The protective benefit from vaccination is much lower if one has immunity from a prior infection. Hence, the allocation of the vaccine among the working-age population should consider two factors:
- It may be prudent to screen people for Covid-19 antibodies and prioritize vaccination of those without antibodies.
- Areas closest to herd immunity even without suppression require the least number of doses to return to regular economic activity and have higher returns from vaccination.
- It is important to ensure fair, affordable, and equitable access to all tools for combating Covid-19 pandemic and, therefore, the need to build a framework for their allocation.
- It becomes essential for the state to balance between safeguarding the life and health of its citizens’ and individual decisional autonomy.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
Do you agree with the statements that restrictions imposed by States on unvaccinated individuals cannot be said to be proportionate? Justify your arguments with examples. (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
