90% of adults fully vaccinated: BMC to HC
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ensure that the health of citizens is not compromised due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19, and that steps taken with regard to vaccination, bed and ambulance management, oxygen supply and so on are continued.
The HC direction came after the BMC informed the bench that around 90% of the city’s population had received both doses of the Covid vaccine, and that around 11% of the population in the 15 to 18 years’ age group, too, had been vaccinated with one dose.
A division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Makarand Karnik - while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Sneha Marjadi during the second wave of Covid-19, alleging improper management of Covid-19 treatment in Maharashtra – was informed by senior advocate Anil Sakhare for the BMC that a note enumerating the action taken for Omicron surveillance, testing and other measures had been submitted to the court.
The note dated January 9, stated that there were 460 vaccination centres in the city, which included 293 run by the BMC. As of January 8, out of the 9,236,500 eligible persons over 18 years of age, 82.76 lakh (90%) persons had been administered two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine while out of the 612,461 beneficiaries in the 15 to 18 years’ age group, around 65,289 (11%) had been given their first dose.
Details of the booster dose for healthcare workers, frontline workers and citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities were also mentioned in the note. Regarding whole genome sequencing (WGS), the note stated that 302 international travellers had tested positive for the Omicron variant, a majority of them being asymptomatic. After perusing the note, the bench said, “We express hope and trust that the BMC shall not leave any stone unturned to ensure that the health of the general public is not compromised because of the emergence and spread of Omicron and that the measures indicated in the note are implemented in letter and spirit.” The PIL will be next heard on January 17.