The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has informed the High Court, that it will implement door to door vaccination as soon as guidelines are introduced by the Central Government. The vaccination will be done for elderly and disabled citizens.
On the 19th of May, the High Court ordered for an appraisal of whether or not the BMC is prepared to carry out door to door vaccination policy even if the Central Govt is disinclined to introduce such policy country wide. A Division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni ordered for the appraisal.The appraisal was also issued to see if measures would be taken to provide awareness to recipients of the vaccine of aftereffects, as well as receive consent of such citizens for vaccination either from them or their family members.
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The Bench also stated that if the Corporation was prepared, then regardless of the Central Government’s policy, the Corporation could introduce door to door vaccination. The bench was hearing a PIL filed by two advocates Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari who approached the court in order to obtain directions for introducing door to door vaccination for disabled and elderly citizens
The BMC filed an affidavit through Dr. Mangala D. Gomare, Executive Health Officer, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, in response to the above High Court order for appraisal. The affidavit also informed the court of the vaccination drives carried out by the BMC for front line workers, health workers, and those above the 60 years age group, as per the guidelines issued by the Central Government.
The policy appears to be a step in the right direction, and could set a good precedent for other states to follow. It acknowledges the danger of vaccination drives as they have been carried out in the past few months, where crowding due to low number of vaccination centers and poor physical distancing protocols, can lead to further spread of the virus.
