Extend vax to those below 18: HC to Centre, state

Nagpur: With the likelihood of a Covid-19 third wave in the country, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Thursday directed the state and centre to extend the vaccination programme to those younger than 18 years of age.

“We would like to know from the state government about steps taken and submit information before the next date of hearing. We would also request the centre to inform on extending the vaccination programme to below-18 population,” a division bench comprising justices Sunil Shukre and Avinash Gharote said.

Reminding the state of their earlier orders, the judges said they had directed steps for dealing with the third wave. “The government has to prepare itself to deal with it. As a step towards such preparedness, more neonatal and paediatric wards would have to be created.”

Expressing concern over Amphotericin-B’s limited production capacity, the bench stressed the need of the centre to take effective steps for increasing it and expediting raw material procurement.

“Even if the Centre takes such steps, that will not be enough, unless more manufacturers come forward to produce it in India. We would, therefore, call upon the divisional commissioner of Nagpur and Amravati to explore the possibility of pharmaceutical companies operating within their respective jurisdictions, regarding their willingness to enter the field of Amphotericin-B production and report to this court,” the judges said.

While hearing a suo motu PIL based on a TOI report, the justices directed the state to also start preparations for tackling white and yellow fungus.

“We’ve already referred to the new standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the government in treating black fungus (mucormycosis). There are also reports that post Covid, patients are also getting afflicted with these diseases. So far, there’s no information about their detection in Maharashtra,” the judges said.

The judges pointed out that there’s no SOP prescribed for treating these diseases and it is needed to stop their spread. “We’re of the view that the state would have to start preparing itself also for tackling these diseases. We, therefore, request it to submit latest information about them and also consider issuance of SOP for treating them,” the judges said.

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Increase Amphotericin allocation to Maharashtra: HC to centre

After amicus curiae Shreerang Bhandarkar and Nidhi Dayani pointed out that primary drug Amphotericin B Lipid Complex allocation was not in consonance with the number of Mucormycosis patients in Maharashtra, the bench directed the Centre to increase its quota in proportion to the active cases.

“We find that the allocation done till May 24 isn’t in proportion to the active cases. We request the centre to make amends in the allocation and align it with the active cases. Bhandarkar informed that Maharashtra has about 20% of total active cases of mucormycosis in India. If this is true, we would expect the Centre to match the allocation with the requirement of the state in terms of its share in total cases in India,” they said.