No Adverse Effects Of Home Vaccination On Bedridden: Bombay High Court Lauds BMC

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni remarked that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was moving in the right direction regarding vaccination of the bedridden and immobile, and that all other civic bodies and district councils in the state should follow suit.

In an affidavit, the BMC informed the court that out of 4,889 bedridden people registered for home vaccination in Mumbai so far, 1,317 had been the jabbed, and none of them had shown any side effects.

BMC started home vaccination as a pilot project on July 30.

"This statement is very encouraging. We record our satisfaction that the BMC has been moving in the right direction. We hope and trust that more such people are covered in the home vaccination drive," the court said.

The bench was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Advocates Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari initiated in April. The plea sought directions to the Union government for starting door-to-door vaccination for senior citizens above the age of 75 years, specially-abled people, and those who are bedridden or wheelchair-bound.

Such people would be unable to go to the vaccination centers, the plea said.

However, the Centre expressed its inability to start door-to-door vaccination, citing wastage of vaccines and risk of AEFI. So instead, it came up with a near to door vaccination policy.

The court then turned towards the Maharashtra Government, asking them to start home vaccination as there was no express restriction from the Centre.

Last month, the State agreed to start the drive and also framed a policy for the same. Considering the number of people that were registered, the drive began in Mumbai.

On Thursday, the petitioner informed the court that the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation and the Thane Municipal Corporation have also started a home vaccination drive.

Kapadia gave a list of suggestions to improve the home vaccination system to which the State's counsel Geeta Shastri said that the recommendations had already been forwarded to the State Covid Task Force.

The suggestions include effective monitoring of all bedridden for 48 hours post immunization and development of an application to store the patient's medical history, which can be of immediate help in case of adverse reactions.

"We would encourage all other municipal corporations and district councils across the state to initiate measures for home vaccination of bedridden individuals in accordance with the state government's policy and following the same pattern as adopted by the BMC," the bench said.

The court has posted the plea for further hearing on September 9.