Unable to move out, many elderly want home shots

LUCKNOW: A large number of elderly people, who are home– bound due to age-related ailments and mobility issues want to get inoculated against Covid-19 but at home, since they cannot visit vaccination centres easily.

“My mother is 85 and has problems in movement. So I request that she should be vaccinated at home to make it comfortable for her and avoid exposure,” requested PS Srivastava of Aliganj, whose mother Sneh Lata Srivastava’s application is pending with the hospital along with several others.

Such people feel a mechanism should be devised to inoculate the aged population at home, since they have co-morbidities, are very vulnerable and need immunization the most.

“The elderly population of Lucknow is about 5 lakh and of them, not less than 1% (about 5000) are really bed-ridden and unable to move. Such people need to get home vaccination facility,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, head of Aastha Geriatric Centre, one of the city’s private vaccination centres.

Experts said home vaccination could be an option if the logistics were handled well. “If proper cold chain is maintained, a medical team is enough to conduct home vaccination,” said Prof Kauser Usman, HoD, geriatric medicine, at the King George’s Medi

cal University.

Along with cold chain maintenance, other things such as uploading the vaccination on CoWin portal, also need to be done properly. Home vaccination could be an option for those unable to come out due to medical or any other reason, said Prof Usman.

“We have proposed to the Prime Minister that we wish to

do it for free if we are provided free vaccines,” said Dr Shukla, who has about 100 such applications pending, as home vaccination option has not been opened by the health department.

Dr Shukla said, “Vaccine can be administered to anyone except those having fever or any other Covid symptoms. Also, those with very poor immunity or on immunosuppressant drugs for long have to be administered the vaccine under watch and this can be done by a medical person visiting the house.”

“Likeminded hospitals across country should also be brought together to take forward the government’s mission to vaccinate people,” said Dr Shukla.