An affidavit filed by Tamil Nadu Government in the Supreme Court makes the questionable, and scientifically false, claim that the unvaccinated can spread the virus, but not the vaccinated.
Covid-19 vaccines have brought hope to many, especially the elderly and the vulnerable, in reducing their risk of severe Covid. However, several authorities in India have been resorting to coercive techniques, even as the Central Government has clearly said that there is no provision for coercion.
Notwithstanding the benefit of vaccination, coercive techniques are legally as well as ethically questionable. The United States Supreme Court recently struck down President Biden’s workplace vaccine mandate. There is an ongoing case in the Indian Supreme Court since several months, to similarly strike down vaccine mandates issued by various authorities.
On 19 Nov 2021, the state government of Tamil Nadu (TN) issued a notification prohibiting unvaccinated people from even stepping onto the street. Is this a reasonable and proportionate measure? To explain this, the state of Tamil Nadu (TN) was impleaded (along with three other states) in the ongoing Supreme Court case on Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
In response, the TN government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on 03 Jan 2022, justifying its notification.
The main justification offered by the TN affidavit is that unvaccinated people can be virus carriers, but not the vaccinated. Such a claim is doubly wrong scientifically.
Second, the claim that vaccinated people are safe to be around is contradicted by the government’s own protocols. Even a layperson knows by now that Covid-19 vaccination does not prevent infection, or transmission from that person to others after infection.
