COVID-19 Maharashtra: No specific request on door-to-door vaccination received yet, says Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan

BMC's reqeust of door-to-door vaccination has been denied by the Centre. (Representative Image)

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has clarified that the Centre hasn't received any specific request from the Maharashtra government regarding door to door vaccination.

Speaking at a press conference on March 30 Bhushan said, "Till date, we haven't received any specific request from Maharashtra Govt. In India, we do Universal Immunisation but even there we've not done door to door vaccination", as quoted by ANI.  His statement was in reply to a question directed at him regarding door to door vaccination in Maharashtra.

Earlier, on March 28, Mumbai Mirror reported that  Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) request for a door-to-door vaccination of senior citizens suffering from disabilities, was denied by the Centre.  The Centre supposedly cited that there was no such policy framework for this purpose.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner of BMC while talking to Mumbai Mirror claimed that Centres’ approval for door-door vaccination would have benefited many as nearly 1.5 lakh population in Mumbai comprise of old citizens who are either visually impaired or bedridden and in no condition to leave their respective houses to get vaccinated.

However, a senior official of the ministry of health explained to Mumbai Mirror, why the door to door vaccination might not prove to be that effective. He said that once vaccinated, a beneficiary has to be kept under observation to check for any reactions. However, if the civic body starts vaccinated at home, this might take a lot of time and make the vaccination process needlessly slower.

The Union Ministry has said that it plans to extend the vaccination programme to the micro-level. This is being done to enable people who live in far-flung areas to avoid travelling beyond 2 km for getting vaccinated.

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“A lot of people have apprehensions about visiting a hospital for vaccination. They fear that they will contract the virus. We plan to take the vaccination to micro-level where people don’t have to travel more than 2 km for vaccination.” a senior official of the ministry of health was quoted by Mumbai Mirror.