Cannot play with lives of people by directing revaccination with Covishield without any data: SC
New Delhi, Oct 30: The Supreme Court on Friday said that it cannot play with the lives of people by directing the Centre to revaccinate people with Covishield who are fully vaccinated with Covaxin to enable them to travel abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The apex court was hearing a petition that said that Covaxin was not approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and people here are facing difficulty in getting permission to travel abroad.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna said that the court does not have any data of what will be the effect on the people and it cannot simply direct the Centre to re-vaccinate people with Covishield.
"We cannot play with the lives of people by directing Centre to revaccinate. We don't have any data with us. We have read in newspapers that Bharat Biotech has filed an application with the World Health Organisation for recognition. Let us wait for the response of WHO. We will take up this matter post-Diwali vacation," the bench said.
Advocate Kartik Seth, appearing in person, contended that every day some students and people are willing to go abroad but they are denied entry as Covaxin is not recognised by the WHO.
He said that under the present mechanism a person vaccinated with Covaxin cannot register himself on the CoWIN portal to get the Covishield vaccine and a direction can be issued to the Centre in this regard.
We cannot pass a direction to administer another vaccine without any data. We understand your concern but let's wait for the WHO's response, the bench said.
The top court said that there is also concern that competitors may in the garb of the PIL try to take advantage of the litigation.
Seth said that his PIL is purely a Public Interest Litigation as several students who go abroad to study are denied entries in various countries.
The plea filed by Seth said that at the time of rolling out of Covaxin, the government did not make the public aware that it was not approved by WHO.
It said that Bharat Biotech has submitted its application for approval as late as April 2021 and in May people came to know many countries are not allowing entry of those who are vaccinated with vaccines other than those enlisted in WHO's emergency use list.
The plea prayed for a direction to the concerned department and release of official data and reasons for the delay in getting approval to Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech.
It also sought direction for disclosing the actual data and records to WHO to obtain approval in favour of Covaxin.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
