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The Bombay High Court on Wednesday was informed by the Maharashtra government that it will soon start door-to-door vaccination drive in Pune and will not take Centre’s approval for the same as mentioned in their affidavit produced before the Bench on Tuesday.

The Division Bench of CJ Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni was hearing a  public interest litigation (PIL) filed by two advocates Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari that seeks direction to the Union government to start door-to-door vaccination for senior citizens above the age of 75, specially-abled persons and those who are bedridden.

“We intend to add certain conditions too, this will be extremely urgent. There are some admin issues but that we will discuss in the Chamber meeting in presence of the petitioner counsels. I want this to be discussed in chamber so that it doesn’t gain media attention” – informed the Advocate General to the Bench

The Bench replied, ‘the matter will be taken up tomorrow at 4 pm in the chamber.”

 It must be noted that tomorrow the Advocate General, Advocate Dhruti Kapadia and the Chairperson (STF), Sanjay Oak would be present in the review meeting.

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday had sought the response of Maharashtra government as to why it needs an approval from the Centre to start door to door vaccination against COVID-19 for senior citizens, specially-abled and bedridden persons in the State.

The Bench was informed by the petitioner Advocate in person Dhruti Kapadia that affidavit stated that once the State government approves this proposal, it will be sent to the Central government for its approval.

The Division Bench of CJ had expressed their displeasure on this point and noted,

“Advisory says that approval has to be obtained from the Centre? Has Kerala & Bihar sought approval?”

The Bench observed that while it appreciated the State Task Force for its guidelines, it was dissatisfied with the affidavit of the health department produced before it.

Following has been introduced in the affidavit presented by the State Government-

• Home vaccination will be done only for beneficiaries who are truly immobile and bed-ridden; hence such a certificate from a treating doctor of the beneficiary has to be obtained.
• The certificate by the treating doctor must also certify that the concerned beneficiary is not likely to have Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) and the family member of the beneficiary shall mandatorily provide written consent;
• In any case, if the beneficiary gets AEFI, then such treating doctor shall be entirely responsible to manage and administer the appropriate treatment.
• In order to avoid vaccine wastage, at least 10 concerned beneficiaries shall mandatorily be made available in close proximity as 1 vial of the COVID-19 vaccine contains at least 10 doses.