New Delhi Mar 21 PTI The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that all documents related to COVID-19 vaccines and their compositions are available in public domain and the vaccine has proved to be very effective and safeThe top court was hearing arguments on a plea seeking directions for disclosure of data on clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines and post-jab casesSolicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre told a bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai that the administration of vaccines is being monitored in a real-time basisEach vial is being kept in cold storage We have vaccine vial monitors which provide data as the vaccine is administered Mehta saidThe argument of the petitioner was that they were not aware of what the vaccine is and what the ingredients are All the documents are in public domain The entire composition is given clinical particulars therapeutic indications etc are all given in the Centres counter We have also given clinical trial experience and no vaccine-related adverse response is observed he told the apex courtMehta referred to the case of tennis player Novak Djokovic in Australia who has remained unvaccinated against the coronavirus and has maintained that he is willing to miss out on future tennis trophies rather than be forced into taking the jabIn January Djokovic was deported from Australia and barred from playing in the Australian Open for not meeting the countrys strict COVID-19 vaccination rulesIn the end the Australian authorities revoked Djokovics visa saying his presence could stir up anti-vaccine sentiment and that kicking him out was necessary to keep Australians safe He was deported a day before the tournament got underway in MelbourneMehta said that in Djokovics case one of the grounds that weighed with the authorities was that his stance on anti-vaccination was so strong that it might influence the people and there may be vaccine hesitancyHe said there are the multitude of policy considerations of the executive which the judiciary left to its wisdomMehta contended that if a vaccine mandate is proportionate with the legitimate aim the doctrine of proportionality will applyReferring to the judgment of the top court in the Puttuswamy case Mehta said if there is a legitimate State interest then there should be an exception carvedPIL petitioner cant seek raw data to satisfy his curiosity or to sit in judgment of the opinion of experts Mehta saidThe Centre had earlier told the top court that as on March 13 this year a total of over 180 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country and 77314 adverse events which come to 0004 per cent have been reportedThe government had said that over 891 crore doses of vaccine Covaxin have been administered in the age group of 15-18 years as on March 12 and the number of adverse events following immunisation AEFI reported are 1739 minor 81 serious and six severeThe Centre had told the bench that a substantial number of individuals in the country are vaccinated and the vaccines have proved to be very effective and safeIt had said that both vaccines -- Covaxin and Covishield -- generate antibodies and adverse events are also found to be minimumAdvocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the petitioner had earlier argued that whether to get vaccinated or not is an individual decision and in the absence of informed consent mandatory vaccination was unconstitutionalThe apex court was hearing a plea filed by Dr Jacob Puliyel a former member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation who has sought directions to also disclose post-vaccination data regarding adverse events PTI PKS IJT

New Delhi [India], December 9 (ANI): The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) under the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) will hold the first meeting on Friday regarding the COVID-19 booster dose, said sources on Thursday.

New Delhi Nov 22 PTI There is no scientific evidence so far to support the need for a booster vaccine dose against COVID-19 ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said on Monday underlining the completion of second dose for Indias adult population is the priority for the government for nowAccording to sources the booster dose issue is likely to be discussed in the next meeting of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India NTAGIAdministering the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to all adult population and ensuring that not only India but the entire world gets vaccinated is the priority of the government for nowMore so there is no scientific evidence so far to support the need for a booster vaccine dose against COVID-19 Bhargava told PTI On the probability of administering a booster dose Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya recently said that adequate stocks are available and the aim is to complete the vaccination of the target population with two doses After that a decision on booster dose would be taken based on expert recommendation he had saidThe government cannot take a direct decision in such a matter When the Indian Council of Medical Research and expert team will say that a booster dose should be given we will consider it then he had said adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always depended on expert opinion be it vaccine research manufacturing or approvalAccording to officials around82percentof the eligible population in India have received the first dose of the vaccine while around 43 per cent have been fully inoculatedThe total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded11687 crore according to provisional reports till 7 am The government has launched a month-long Har Ghar Dastak campaign for house-to-house COVID-19 vaccination of those who are yet to take a dose and for people whose second dose is overdueAccording to officials over 12 crore beneficiaries are overdue for their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine after the expiry of the prescribed interval between the two doses PTI PLB KJ

New Delhi [India], August 28 (ANI): As India administered over 1 crore vaccine doses against COVID-19 on Friday until 10 pm, which is the highest vaccination that happened in a single day, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist, World Health Organization (WHO), congratulated the country for vaccinating 50 per cent of the adult population with the first dose.