Bombay HC asks why senior citizens can't get jabs at home if vaccine drives are allowed in housing societies

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday again suggested that the Centre and state govt’s should conduct door-to-door inoculation of senior citizens, the specially-abled and bed-ridden citizens at their homes. Noting that several housing societies are now tying up with private hospitals and holding vaccination drives in the society premises itself, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni on Wednesday asked why the authorities can’t take it a step further and inoculate the affected groups at their homes. “If this is being done, then you (government and other authorities) can take a step further and go to the homes of such people (who are not able to go to vaccination centres),” Chief Justice Datta said. The court made the observation while hearing a PIL filed by lawyers Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari, seeking a direction to the Centre and state governments to start door-to-door vaccination for senior citizens above the age of 75, specially-abled, bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound people. The petition said such people would not be in a position to step out of their homes and travel to vaccination centres. Kapadia on Wednesday told the court though the Centre’s policy says door-to-door vaccination was not possible, the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (in neighbouring Palghar district) has started it in its area. The court had last month directed the chairman of the ‘National Expert Group for Vaccine Administration of COVID-19’(NEGVAC) set up by the Centre to consider the issue of introducing the door-to-door vaccination drive. Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh on Wednesday sought further time following which the court posted the matter for the next hearing on 8 June. With inputs from PTI