The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the Centre's stand on a petition filed by a cancer patient seeking direction to authorities concerned to allow him to take COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin as the second dose instead of Covishield, which was administered to the petitioner as the first dose.
Justice Rekha Palli issued notice to the Centre asking it to file a reply and listed the matter for October 28.
The petition was filed by advocate Madhur Mittal, an Opdivo Nivolumab Cancer patient, presently under cancer treatment taking immunotherapy. He submitted that for further treatment of cancer the petitioner wanted to travel to the USA and for the same, the petitioner wanted to get himself to get fully vaccinated.
The petition filed through advocate Sanjay S Chhabra, sought appropriate directions seeking to the respondent to allow the petitioner to take the Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine as the second dose in terms of the medical prescription/ advice instead of Covishield, which was administered to the petitioner as COVID-19 vaccine as the first dose. The petitioner was represented by Nitesh Jain, Sanjay S Chhabra and Deepak Agarwal.
On March 13, 2021, the petitioner got the first dose of Covishield and had a severe reaction and was hospitalised in Max Hospital, Saket in Delhi for four days.
He further submitted that he wanted to get vaccinated with both the doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and as per the doctor's advice and prior complications of the Covishield vaccine, he was advised to take Covaxin as the second dose.
Thereafter, the petitioner through the respondent's website cowin.gov.in tried to book a slot for the second dose as Covaxin, in terms of the doctor's prescription but was not able to do so, as the said web application only booked a slot in the same category. That is the person who took the first dose as Covishield, can only slot for second does for Covishield only and the same is the situation for other COVID-19 vaccines.
The petitioner's lawyers submitted that as per the government advisory, the respondent has advised the public at large to take the COVID-19 vaccine in both doses of the same company, but there are also many cases, where there is a mixing of COVID-19 vaccine with another vaccine and have given better results.
( With inputs from ANI )
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