The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has clarified that no one can be denied vaccination or medical treatment for Covid due to lack of Aadhaar ID.
Aadhaar has an exception handling mechanism (EHM) which should be brought into effect in cases where a person requires some essential service but does not have Aadhaar.
Alternate ID Proofs Can Be Used
The statement comes in the middle of news reports saying that people were being denied hospitalisation and vaccination because they did not have Aadhaar.
Even if one doesn’t have the 12-digit biometric ID, they can use any of the 6 other forms of ID proof to enroll themselves for vaccination.
They can choose from driving licence, permanent account number (PAN), passport, pension passbook, NPR smart card and voter’s ID.
Denial Of Essential Services Due To Lack Of Aadhaar Illegal
As per Section 7 of Aadhaar Act, 2016, no one can be excluded from provision of essential services if they don’t have Aadhaar.
Alternate means of ID proof should be accepted in such cases.
If one experiences breach of law wherein they are refused essential services for want of Aadhaar, they must report it to higher authorities of the relevant department.
Vaccine Availability Estimates
In other news, more than 2 billion doses of vaccines are estimated to be available between August and December.
The figure is based on data submitted by 8 vaccine manufacturers.
In theory, this figure covers the entirety of the Indian population with some change.
Russia’s Sputnik vaccine has reached India but with limited supply.
It is said to be available in the market from next week and production should begin in July.
Other Brands’ Vaccines That Could Come To India
Other vaccine candidates for the Indian market include Gennova’s mRNA product, Zydus Cadila with its ZyCoV-D jab and Biological E’s subunit vaccine.
However, in order to achieve 100% population vaccination, manufacture of the doses has to be scaled quickly, and critical data regarding efficacy and safety of the vaccines has to be available.