Meghalaya High Court Orders Shops, Commercial Vehicles To Put Up Signage Of Vaccination Status

There have been instances of vaccine hesitancy in several areas of Meghalaya where people are not getting vaccinated fearing side effects. Several attempts of the state government to make people aware have fallen flat.

In the wake of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the state, the Meghalaya High Court in a judgment on Thursday has directed all shops, local bus and taxi stands to put up signboards informing about the vaccination status of their staff. A division bench of the high court, headed by Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder, in its order said, every establishment will have to put up a signboard mentioning "Vaccinated" in the event all employees and staff of the concerned establishment are vaccinated and "Not-Vaccinated" if they weren't. The bench, which has Justice HS Thangkhiew as its other member, further said that the dimension of the "vaccinated" or "not-vaccinated" signboard, and the place where it could be affixed will be decided by the officials concerned. The suo moto PIL was filed by the Registrar of the High Court after authorities in several areas asked shopkeepers, vendors, taxi drivers and others to get themselves vaccinated before resuming business.