The Centre turned down the BMC’s request, saying that there was no such policy, said Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Suresh Kakani.
According to Mumbai Mirror report on Sunday, the Centre has refused the request of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai’s civic body, to allow door-to-door coronavirus vaccination of senior citizens suffering from physical disabilities.
The Centre turned down the BMC’s request, saying that there was no such policy, said Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Suresh Kakani.
“There are nearly 1.5 lakh people in Mumbai who are old and bedridden or handicapped and can’t move out of their house for vaccination,” Kakani said. “We had written to the Centre to allow us permission to visit them to vaccinate them, but the central officials told us that there is no such policy. It would have really helped those who are confined to their homes.”
The Union Health Ministry, however, has said that it will extend the Covid-19 vaccination programme to the micro-level so that people do not have to travel more than 2 km to get the vaccination.
The most effective ways to control the infection was to vaccinate the population in a major way, a senior health ministry official said. He also explained why door-to-door vaccination would slow down the inoculation drive.
“If you vaccinate someone, you need to check on that person for any medical reaction for some time,” the official said. “If people are to be vaccinated at home it will take a lot of time for each vaccination team to give a jab to one single beneficiary. This way it will slow down the vaccination drive.”
The Maharashtra capital is witnessing a steep spike in Covid-19 cases. On Monday, Mumbai recorded 5,888 new coronavirus cases, taking the city’s tally to 4,04,562. The toll rose to 11,661 with 12 new deaths. The active caseload in Maharashtra’s capital stood at 47,453.
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