Supreme Court Over Reports On 3rd Covid Wave Impact On Children, Rural India

A special bench of Supreme Court: "Has any study been carried out by any government for the rural areas. We have been told that children will be exposed in the third wave and that rural areas will be affected."

Concerned over reports that kids and rural India may be exposed more in the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre whether any study on these aspects has been conducted. The top court also asked the Centre about its responsibility on the regulation of prices of vaccines and said it has seen "prices of Remdesivir and some other medicines hitting the roof". "Has any study been carried out by any government for the rural areas. We have been told that children will be exposed in the third wave and that rural areas will be affected. We want to know the vaccination policy for that too," said a special bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat. Hearing a suo motu case on management of COVID situation in the country, the top court highlighted the "digital divide" between rural and urban India and questioned the Centre over mandatory registration on CoWIN App for COVID-19 vaccination, saying the policy makers must "have ears on ground" to effectively deal with the "unprecedented" pandemic crisis.