CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered notices to the Central and State governments on a plea to include disabled persons in the priority list for Covid vaccine programme. The petitioner, Meenakshi Balasubramanian, a polio survivor, sought a direction to include the disabled in the priority group since they face increased risk.
The petitioner said, “Persons with disabilities face three times increased risk with devastating consequences: the risk of contracting Covid, developing severe symptoms or dying as well as deterioration in health during and after the pandemic, whether or not they are infected,” he added.
Disabled persons require specific support services including habilitation... and are already at a disadvantaged position owing to multiple barriers including access to information regarding health services... they also suffer due to the lack of adequate social distance protection and income security due to the preexisting inequalities in access to education and employment of persons with disabilities, she added.
The Central government has identified persons below the age of 50 with comorbidities as a high-risk group but failed to consider disabled persons, said the petitioner The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy recording the submissions ordered notices to the State and Central governments to file a detailed report in three weeks.
High-risk group
The Centre has identified persons below the age of 50 with comorbidities as a high-risk group but failed to consider disabled persons, said the petitioner