The Maharashtra government on June 30 informed the Bombay High Court that it would not wait for the Centre’s approval and proceed with implementing door-to-door vaccination on an experimental basis.
Advocate General (AG) Ashutosh Kumbhakoni made the statement before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni.
Maharashtra proposes home vaccination for the bed-ridden on experimental basis
“We want to do it on an experimental basis, and we propose to start it from Pune district, as the size of the district is not too large or not too small,” the AG said.
The AG added it would be done just the way a vaccination drive was conducted in Pune district for students going abroad. “We will invite suggestions from citizens. There will be additional conditions, but those have not been crystallised,” he said.
He went on to say there were some concerns of the administration that he would discuss with the judges in their chambers.
The court then said, “We hope and pray that you do not press for the condition for the doctor to give his undertaking. In a critical operation, the hospital takes the undertaking of patients’ relatives. Don’t give this impractical condition that no one comes forward.”
Referring to a newspaper, the court said, there is so much talk of Adverse Events Following Immunization. Please take a look at the picture where a person is vaccinated on a boat and the report that said 80% of the population has been vaccinated in Tripura.
The Bench remarked that a 99-year-old lady was vaccinated in a far-flung State. It is a small State in a hilly region.
“Ask your officers to draw inspiration from these. In the first part of June, there was a picture of someone on a bicycle getting a jab,” the Bench added.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation plea by two city-based advocates – Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari – seeking door-to-door vaccination for those above 75 years of age and who used a wheelchair.
Ms. Kapadia said that, along with an email intimation, a telephone helpline number must be made available so that people without Internet can also make use of the facility.
The Bench said it will hear the matter on July 1 in the chambers, when the AG, Ms. Kapadia and Chairperson of State Task Force Sanjay Oak will be present.