Bedridden citizens can soon get jabs at home, says health minister
MUMBAI: Ruling out door-todoor vaccination for all in Maharashtra, state health minister Rajesh Tope said his department is working on allowing home inoculation for those who are bedridden and cannot go to the vaccination centre. So far, the Centre has not issued any guidelines allowing door-to-door vaccination. The state task force on vaccination is working on formulating protocol and guidelines for allowing home vaccination of such citizens.
“The Maharashtra government is planning to start doorto-door vaccinations for those who are bedridden and cannot step out of their homes. There will be a separate protocol for such beneficiaries. Their family members will have to give us in writing that if there is any AEFI (adverse effect following immunisation) they would bear the small risk. A certificate from the family doctor will also be required stating that the beneficiary needs vaccination at home. Once the protocol and guidelines are ready, we would be able to start the vaccinations. However, door-to-door vaccination for all will not happen,” said Tope.
The minister added that people are inoculated in hospitals as there are medical facilities available in cases of any minor AEFI.
Last week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wrote to the Union health minisdemands try, expressing the civic body’s willingness to conduct door-todoor vaccinations for severely ill and bedridden people. BMC also requested the Centre to issue guidelines for such drives. The Bombay high court had asked the Centre to respond to BMC’S June 10 letter. If Maharashtra starts door-to-door vaccination of bedridden citizens in the absence of any standard operating procedure from the Centre, it would follow the footsteps of Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the state administered 289,096 doses till 8pm on Saturday across 4,100 centres, taking the number of beneficiaries to 25,863,029, as per the data on the COWIN portal. So far, 5,172,410 beneficiaries in the state have received both doses.