Doorstep jab: HC gives time till June 2

The Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni on Thursday lashed out at the Union government for asking Berhampur Municipal Corporation in Orissa to stop door-to-door vaccination drive on the grounds that the civic body hadn’t taken permission from the Centre to do so. The HC has accordingly granted the National Expert Group of Vaccine Administration for Covid19 (NEGVAC) time until June 2 to decide on whether or not to allow door-to-door vaccination.

The bench also pulled up the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for stating that it would conduct door-to-door vaccination for the elderly and bedridden only after getting permission from the Union government.

On Thursday, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the judges that the Union government had decided not to allow door-to-door vaccination drives owing to the adverse effects following immunisation (AEFI).

Singh told the bench that the Union had planned to go to housing complexes but not the doorstep. He said there would be an ambulance stationed in the compound to look af ter any AEFI. However, Advocate Dhruti Kapadia, arguing in person, told the bench that door-to-door inoculation was possible, as the civic body of Berhampur at Odisha has already started it and it is going on smoothly. At this, ASG Singh submitted that the Behrampur authorities had stopped the drive now. Having gone through the documents placed on record, Chief Justice Datta noted that the Berhampur authorities were asked to stop the drive by the Union government as it hadn’t granted a permission to the authorities in Odisha. “This is possible only in India wherein a drive is stopped just because the Union government did not give the permission. The documents that the Union government has served nowhere mention a single instance of any death owing to door-to-door vaccination,” CJ Datta said.

“So, you (Union) are all in all. That just cannot be. Can no one do anything without your permission? You have your own experts. And this is the stand of experts who haven’t given a single reason against door-to-door,” the chief justice observed. The bench then turned to Senior Counsel Anil Sakhare representing the BMC, as the civic body had, in an affidavit, told the bench that it wouldn’t conduct door-to-door drive unless the union government allowed it. Notably, the judges had on Wednesday said they would grant permission to the BMC to start the drive, yet the civic body didn’t agree to do so.

“We are aghast to note that the BMC has succumbed to your pressure (by Union). You (BMC) have been doing so much work, then why can’t you start this drive? You don’t want to take advantage of our orders too,” CJ Datta observed, adding, “What is the fault of senior citizens and bedridden persons? Why can’t they be given the jabs at their home?”

The bench further noted that the Union government had yet to take the opinion of the NEGVAC on this issue and had instead, considered the decision of another panel.

During the hearing, Kapadia apprised the bench of the fact that the Union health minister had, in a response in the Lok Sabha, had specifically said that there were around 0.2 per cent complaints of side effects of the vaccines which were minor ones, like fever, anxiety etc.

“Your minister has said this on the floor of the House that AEFI was only 0.2 per cent. Then how can you use this for not allowing door-todoor drive? We are disheartened by this attitude of yours,” the chief justice said. Having been pulled up, ASG Singh told the bench that the Union would reconsider the decision. At this, CJ Datta said, “We are more than happy if you reconsider but ensure that the intention should be to reach out to the citizens. You must be chasing people and vaccinating them and not make citizens come to you.” Meanwhile, the bench has sought a detailed chart on the number of cases wherein people reported side effects of vaccination. “Same vaccine is being used in the United Kingdom and even the USA, still they are conducting door-to-door drives. Then why no such drive here. Consider all this,” the judges said while posting the matter till June 2.