KATHMANDU, JUNE 22
The Supreme Court today issued an interim order to the government to start providing second dose of Covishield vaccines to people above 65 years of age who have already received their first dose.
A single bench of Justice Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada issued the order in response to a writ petition filed by Arjun Raj Giri and others against the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens and others.
Giri's lawyer Advocate Bikash Bhattarai said his clients had received the first shot of Covishield vaccine 12 weeks ago, but the government had not provided them the second dose of the vaccine.
The petitioners have stated that according to the World Health Organisation, the second dose of Covishield vaccine should be given within 12 weeks of the first jab.
According to Bhattarai, the court also issued a show cause notice to the government telling it to furnish written responses within 15 days.
Many people who have received the first shot of Covishield have not been able to receive their second dose as the government failed to import the vaccine from India.
Meanwhile, Indian Niti Aayog member VK Paul said resumption of vaccine export was "very much on the radar".
Talking to Associated Press, he said, "Once our immediate need of vaccinating a significant proportion of Indian people is achieved and vaccine stockpiles are available from multiple sources, we would then like to provide vaccines to others."
A version of this article appears in the print on June 23 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
