The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to spell out its plan to tackle a possible third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic while emphasising the need to create buffer stock for oxygen and undertake vaccination process at a larger scale.
The court also felt that the Centre's formula of oxygen distribution to state governments, particularly to the national capital, was a "gross underestimate".
"The third surge which is around the corner, according to experts, will affect children. What is the problem in enhancing the supply (of oxygen)?" a bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. It will save from oxygen panic and create a buffer, it added.
Elaborating on the third wave, the bench said that when a child goes to a hospital, the mother and father will also have to go. “That is why vaccination will have to be over for this group of people. We need to plan for this in a scientific way and thus, make arrangements," the court said.
It said that if preparations were made right away, we may be able to tackle the third wave for which scientific planning to vaccinate persons would be needed.
"We need to deal with the third surge in a scientifically planned manner," Justice Chandrachud said.
“When the third wave comes, how will you deal with it? We are in stage two of the pandemic. Stage three might have very different parameters,” the bench said.
The court also said the Centre's current formula on the“oxygen-for-bed” arrangement for Covid patients “needed a relook.”
“When you prepared the formula, not everybody who went to ICU needed oxygen. But now many home isolation patients need oxygen. Your formula does not take into account ambulances, Covid care facility, etc,” the bench said.
The court also directed for a complete audit of the distribution system so as to give it a pan-India view that fixes accountability once stocks are released. It also decided to form a committee of experts for oxygen audit, as sought by the Union government.
The matter came up before the top court out of the contempt notice issued against its officers by the Delhi High Court for failing to provide 700 MT of oxygen to Delhi as per top court order.
The top court had on Wednesday stayed the High Court order, saying contempt will not help salvage the oxygen situation.
During the hearing, it suggested forming a committee of experts for oxygen audit as sought by the Union government.
The Centre, for its part, claimed that although it had supplied 730 MT oxygen on Wednesday, that much was not required in Delhi.
The court, however, maintained that the supply has to be maintained as per the order of April 30.
The Centre informed the top court that oxygen supplies may dip to 560 MT in the next two days. But the top court said supplying 700 MT daily would help Delhi build buffer stock and remove panic among people.
Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted that the government must have a solution thereby to have a minimum fault-prone formula. “We are not saying that formula is cast in stone. We will revisit the formula”, Mehta added.
The bench also noted that under these pressing times, the services of doctors who have completed MBBS and waiting to enroll for PG courses could prove crucial for the third wave.
"If we prepare today, we may be able to handle it," the bench said, asking the government to explore the possibility of utilising their services.
"Today we have 1.5 lakh doctors who have finished the medical course but waiting for the NEET exam. How do you tap them? 1.5 lakh doctors and 2.5 lakh nurses are sitting at home,” it said.