Door-To-Door Covid Vaccination Could Have Saved Several Lives: Bombay HC Asks Centre To File Response

Mumbai: Observing that several lives could have been saved if the Centre had started door-to- door vaccination programme for the elderly and bed-ridden a few months ago, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the Union government why not pro- actively start this programme when the lives of senior citizens, who are unable to go to vaccination centres to get inoculated, are concerned.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni reiterated the court’s earlier order of April 22 in which it asked the Union government to relook at its decision to not initiate a door-to-door vaccination programme.

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“It has been three weeks and the government (Union) is yet to inform us of its decision. The government should have taken a decision one way or the other,” the High Court said directing the Centre to file an affidavit by May 19 when it would next hear the matter.

Hearing a PIL filed by two lawyers seeking door-to-door vaccination facility for senior citizens above the age of 75, specially-abled persons and those who are bed-ridden or wheelchair-bound, the High Court noted that many foreign countries have already started door-to-door vaccination facilities.

 

“In India, we do many things late and things travel to our country very slowly,” PTI quoted Justice Kulkarni as saying.

The High Court said it had seen photographs of senior citizens and many wheelchair-bound persons waiting outside vaccination centres in long queues.

“This was very heart-rending and not a good sight. They must be already suffering from so many ailments and now they face the risk of being infected with COVID-19 also (while) waiting in such crowds,” the bench said.

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Noting that senior High Court judges had a meeting with Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal on Tuesday where he said the civic body was planning to start ward-wise vaccination camps from next week with the capacity to inoculate 70,000 people per day, the bench directed the BMC to file an affidavit stating details of the same and by when it would begin and what steps the corporation plans to take for the next few days with regard to the vaccination programme.

The High Court also asked the BMC about what measures it plans to take for the vaccination of homeless people, beggars and those living on streets stating “they are also a significant population and are spreaders of the coronavirus”.