Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcement during his address to the nation of a new vaccination policy came days after the Supreme Court said the central government's decisions regarding the inoculation were prima facie arbitrary and irrational.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat had on June 1 asked the central government to undertake a fresh review of its vaccination policy addressing the concerns raised by various quarters. 

The bench had used some strong words in its observations, insisting that the Indian constitution does not envisage courts to be silent spectators when constitutional rights of citizens are infringed by executive policies.

It also asked the government to furnish detailed information in this regard in the form of an affidavit in two weeks.

The apex court had also directed the Centre to place on record a roadmap of the projected availability of vaccines until December 31 this year. 

The opposition parties too had flagged the issue. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the central government’s unfair policy of vaccine distribution was leading to inequality.

He had called for centralisation of vaccine purchase and decentralisation of vaccine distribution. 

In a letter to the Prime Minister on May 12, several opposition parties had urged the Centre to provide free and universal mass vaccination.

“Procure vaccines centrally from all available sources - global and domestic. Immediately begin a free, universal mass vaccination campaign across the country,” they said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was one of the signatories to the letter.

But the BJP had claimed that opposition parties were fast changing the goalpost.

They said the opposition first demanded that states should be given control of the vaccine policy and when it was done, they wanted the Centre to take it back.

Besides four Chief Ministers had also picked loopholes in the policy. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren demanded universal and free vaccines.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy and his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik flagged the lack of vaccine supply, saying the global tenders floated by states have gone unanswered because the manufacturers were ready to engage only with the central government.