602 bed-ridden people given Covid-19 vaccine at home in Mumbai, BMC tells HC

The city civic body informed the Bombay High Court on Thursday that 4715 bedridden people here have so far registered for home vaccination against Covid19 and out of them 602 people have been administered the jabs at their residencesThe only hurdle that the people are facing is the requirement of a fitness certificate from a medical expert Anil Sakhare the counsel for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC told a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S KulkarniThe BMC started the home vaccination drive for bedridden people on July 30 Sakhare told the court that till August 4 the civic body received applications from 4715 bedridden people for registering themselves for the home vaccinationldquoTill Wednesday 602 bedridden people have been vaccinated at their homes A twomember team ndash comprising a doctor and a nurse ndash visits the homes of the registered people along with an ambulance and the vaccine is administeredrdquo he saidSakhare said the only hurdle people are facing is the requirement of a fitness certificate from a doctor stating the person who has to be vaccinated shall remain bedridden or immobile for the next six months and that the person is fit to receive the jabAdvocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni appearing for the state government submitted to the court the governments policy for Covid19 vaccination for the bedridden and immobile personsThe court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocates Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari seeking a direction to the Union and the state governments to start doortodoor vaccination drive for senior citizens above the age of 75 years speciallyabled people and those who are bedridden or wheelchairboundThe petition said these people would not be in a position to go to the vaccination centresThe Centre had said it would not be in a position to start the drive but the state government later agreed to initiate the home vaccination campaign in Mumbai from August 1On Thursday Kapadia pointed out to the court certain changes that can be made to the state governments policy with regard to the need of a fitness certificate and the mandatory requirement to submit an identity cardThe bench said the petitioner could forward her suggestions to the state government for considerationA beginning has been made Let it continue There would be some teething problems here and there It can be taken care ofrdquo the court saidThe court directed the BMC to file an affidavit by August 12 on the number of bedridden individuals vaccinatedKapadia also pointed out to the court that the BMC has roped in an NGO for help in its drive Sakhare said the help of NGOs was being taken for the registration of the bedridden peopleThe court said the BMCs affidavit shall also indicate the role of NGOs in the home vaccination drive As per the state governments policy bedridden or immobile people can register themselves for home vaccination through the CoWIN portalldquoPresently only the Covaxin vaccine is being used for home vaccination Planning of home vaccination will be subject to the availability of vaccine Covaxin from the Government of India as only this vaccine has been presently cleared by the State Task Forcerdquo according to the policyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever