‘Will permit door-to-door vaccination if Centre doesn’t’: Bombay HC tells Maharashtra – Hindustan Times

The Bombay High Court has directed the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) not to wait for the central government’s permission to conduct door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination for the elderly and disabled persons who cannot go out to get themselves inoculated, HT has learnt.

“They (expert committee members) are all academic experts but they seem to have zero knowledge about the ground reality. If this decision is taken from Delhi, you should think about the local situation… If the corporation wants to start door-to-door vaccination. If the centre does not permit it, we will. Saving lives is more important,” said the bench.

The HC, while rapping the Centre for consulting experts who did not recommend the door-to-door vaccination initiative, said that the experts were probably unaware of ground realities wherein people live in such houses where even a stretcher cannot be manoeuvred. The court has asked the state and the BMC to file an affidavit on how it proposes to conduct the door-to-door vaccination by Thursday.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, while hearing the public interest litigation filed by advocates Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari, was informed that the Centre was to respond to the court’s direction in an earlier hearing on May 12 on whether the door-to-door vaccination could be implemented. The PIL sought directions to the Centre, the state government and the BMC to provide door-to-door vaccination for people ageing over 75 years, the specially-abled and the bed-ridden.

Kapadia further added that the BMC had failed to devise a formula to identify beggars without photo IDs required for vaccination and that helpline numbers should be provided to enable senior citizens to book an appointment for a home visit for vaccination stating that all citizens cannot access the online platform.

Additional solicitor general Anil Singh for the Union of India informed the court that the direction was referred to the committee of experts and they had filed a response stating that as there were post-vaccination protocols to be observed and the same could not be facilitated at individual homes, door-to-door vaccination could not be permitted. He, however, added that transport arrangements could be made to take elderly citizens to the centres.

However, Kapadia submitted that some of the elderly and disabled persons lived in extremely difficult conditions and if they had to go to centres they would have to be taken on wheelchairs or stretchers. However, due to the constrained spaces they lived in, it was not possible to take such people to the centres. Thus, in light of the committee’s denial, such persons would not be able to get vaccinated at all.

After hearing the submissions, the court expressed dissatisfaction at the expert committee’s recommendations, termed it to be the opposite of door-to-door vaccination and said, “I am not aware of Mumbai, but in North Kolkata, there are buildings wherein even stretchers cannot be taken inside. If somebody is bedridden and there is no room for a stretcher to manoeuvre, how will you bring them outside for vaccination?”

Justice Kulkarni then pointed out that there are old buildings in congested areas with wooden staircases even in Mumbai and elderly citizens and specially-abled persons living there may not be able to come out.

The bench then directed the BMC Commissioner to apprise it as to whether the civic body could introduce door-to-door vaccination under proper medical care and upon the consent of citizens/beneficiaries to be administered being well aware of the consequences. HC will hear the PIL next on May 20.