Maharashtra government seeks Centre's approval for experimental door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination; Bombay High Court displeased

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday informed the Bombay High Court of its willingness to permit door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination within the State on an experimental basis, subject to certain conditions. .The health department of the Maharashtra government filed an affidavit placing on record a proposal of the State government to start door-to-door vaccination on an experimental basis, on following mandatory conditions:Home vaccination will be done only for beneficiaries who are truly immobile and bed-ridden; hence such a certificate from a treating doctor of the beneficiary has to be obtained. The certificate by the treating doctor must also certify that the concerned beneficiary is not likely to have Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) and the family member of the beneficiary shall mandatorily provide written consent;In any case, if the beneficiary gets AEFI, then such treating doctor shall be entirely responsible to manage and administer the appropriate treatment. In order to avoid vaccine wastage, at least 10 concerned beneficiaries shall mandatorily be made available in close proximity as 1 vial of the COVID-19 vaccine contains at least 10 doses. .The affidavit stated that once the State government approves this proposal it will be sent to the Central government for its approval..Perusing the affidavit, the Bench of Chief Justices Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni expressed their surprise at this statement."Where do you get that approval is required from the Centre? Did Bihar, Kerala take approval? And 'health' is a State subject. Do you take Centre's approval for every act?" the Court askedThe Court expressed that while it was appreciative of the State Task Force for its guidelines, it was dissatisfied with the affidavit of the health department..The Bench was hearing the plea seeking door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination for citizens above 75 years of age and those who are specially-abled or bed-ridden.Earlier, Advocate Dhruti Kapadia, appearing as petitioner-in-person, had informed the Court that several state governments in India and municipal corporations in Maharashtra had initiated door-to-door vaccination for their citizens without waiting for a policy from the Centre.Upon a specific query from the Bench, the BMC responded that if guidelines are issued by the State on door-to-door vaccinations, they would be followed by the BMC.The Bench had observed in an earlier hearing that there is no prohibition imposed by the Centre on states from carrying out door-to-door COVID-19 vaccinations for elderly and disabled citizens in view of the Centre's submissions that its policy for 'near to door' vaccination was merely an advisory.