Dr Jacob M Puliyel, who fought a legal battle to ensure bodily autonomy for vaccination, has said that not every disease requires a vaccine. Speaking at Manorama Hortus in a discussion with author Ameer Shahul on the topic 'Inoculating a nation: science, society and the politics behind India's vaccine story', he said that vaccine shall not be the solution for every ailment.

In 2022, the Supreme Court held that no individual can be forced to take vaccination and upheld the right to bodily integrity of a person, while considering a petition moved by Puliyel.

Puliyel, who recalled several instances of vaccine contamination and disastrous consequences like the Cutter incident, said that pharma companies collude with politicians and place profit over public health. "There was a time when vaccine research was done in universities. Then pharmaceutical companies took over, and since then, it has always been about profits," he said.

In 1955, the vaccine manufactured for Polio by a firm associated with Cutter Laboratories resulted in 40,000 cases of polio in the USA and left around 200 children with different degrees of paralysis, according to an article published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

According to Puliyel, a former member of India's vaccine advisory body, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India(NTAGI), there was a lack of transparency about the trial data of the Covid vaccine, and the least they could do was not to force it upon individuals.

"Vaccines have resulted in sudden infant death syndrome and antibody-caused reactions. But such incidents seldom come to light. These cases are not documented because the stakeholders believe it would result in vaccine-hesitancy," said Puliyel.