[COVID-19 vaccination] PIL moved in Madras High Court to include Persons with Disability and caregivers in Priority Group

The Madras High Court today issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition calling for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their caregivers as priority groups for COVID-19 vaccinations, given the increased risks and challenges they face during the pandemic. .A Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy issued notice today returnable by three weeks in the PIL moved by polio survivor and co-founder of of the Equals Centre for Promotion of Social Justice, Meenakshi Balasubramanian..The petitioner has pointed out the unique characteristics of persons which disabilities render them incapable of maintaining physical distancing and wearing masks. Owing to this, the mortality risk among persons with disabilities is reported to be higher. .Persons with disabilities are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, developing severe symptoms from COVID-19, dying from the disease and having poorer health during and after the pandemic, whether or not affected by COVID-19, it has been submitted..It has also been highlighted that some persons with disabilities, such as those with multiple sclerosis, persons with haemophilia, thalassemia etc. tend to have a weak immune system, which make them more susceptible to various infections and raises the risk of COVID-19 exposure..The nature of the support and rehabilitation services required by persons with disability may sometimes entail in their having to compromise of COVID-19 safety norms, the plea states. .In this regard, the petitioner has noted that people who are blind, and who rely on touch to navigate, would be at higher risk for contacting the COVID-19 virus, which is transmitted through contact. For people with cerebral palsy, autism or any developmental disability, wearing a mask is not an option as it is not an object they are used to and drooling makes masks unsustainable. .Persons with disabilities would also experience higher risk of contracting the virus as they require close contact with others as a result of personal care needs, the petitioner notes. There are reports that indicate that persons with learning disabilities are over six times more likely to die from COVID-19..The petitioner goes on to highlight that despite their susceptibility, persons with disabilities are often invisible due to lack of adequate data about them. .Amid the ongoing pandemic, it is noted that various other countries including Australia, the UK and the USA have prioritised vaccinating persons with disability. The WHO has also classified persons with disability as a priority group..However, as per guidelines issued by the government in December 2020, the priority groups identified so far for COVID-19 vaccinations are only health care workers, frontline workers and persons aged 50 years and above with comorbidities. It is the petitioner's case that persons with disability must also be treated as a priority group. .Representations were sent on this issue to the government, the petitioner has submitted. While so, it was reported on January 25 that while the government is considering the inclusion of persons below 50 years with co-morbidities as the next in line for the vaccine, there has been no mention of persons with disabilities..The failure to include persons with disabilities as a priority group would violate Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty), the petitioner asserts. She adds that it is not difficult to identify persons with disabilities to include them as a priority group since they are given ID cards or on the basis of electoral data.