1,317 bed-ridden people given Covid vaccine in Mumbai, no case of adverse reaction: BMC tells HC

MUMBAI: A total of 1,317 bed-ridden people have so far been given vaccine against COVID-19 at their residences in Mumbai and there has not been a single case of adverse reaction to the jabs, the city civic body told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday.

The door-to-door vaccination drive began as a pilot project in Mumbai on July 30.

"Till August 9, 2021, 1,317 bed-ridden citizens have been vaccinated during the door-to-door vaccination drive. No incidence of AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) has been reported," said an affidavit filed in the HC by Mangala Gomare, the executive health officer of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The affidavit was submitted in response to a public interest litigation filed by advocates Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari, seeking a direction to the Union government to start door-to-door vaccination of senior citizens above the age of 75 years, specially-abled people and those who are bed-ridden or wheelchair-bound.

The petition said such people would be unable to go to the vaccination centres.

The Centre had earlier expressed its inability to introduce the door-to-door vaccination drive on the ground of wastage of vaccines and risk of adverse reactions.

The Maharashtra government last month said it would initiate the drive and framed a policy for the same.

The drive was subsequently started in Mumbai as a pilot project.

According to the BMC's affidavit, as on August 9, 4,889 bed-ridden individuals had registered for home vaccination.

On July 30, a pilot round with the help of an NGO was conducted and 37 people were vaccinated here at their homes.

"From August 2, 2021, home vaccination drive is going on in all 24 wards in the city. Beneficiaries are called and asked to keep necessary certificates ready. A two-member team comprising a doctor and a nurse is then deployed in each ward along with an ambulance and kit in case of adverse reaction to the vaccine," the civic body said in its affidavit.

The civic body also said it took the help of NGOs in some wards for manpower support and basic life support ambulances.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni will hear the petition on Thursday.

The financial capital on Tuesday reported 230 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection tally to 7,37,954, while five fatalities pushed to death toll to 15,959, as per the civic body.