Mumbai : The Maharashtra government on Tuesday told the Bombay high court that it will be starting a home vaccination drive against Covid-19 in Mumbai from August 1.The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyers Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari which sought directions from the Centre, state and BMC to start door-to-door vaccination facility for persons over 75 years of age, those specially-abled and the bed-ridden.

Appearing for the state, advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni and advocate Akshay Shinde submitted that a draft policy for home vaccination of needy persons was ready. Kumbhakoni submitted that as on July 19, the state had identified 17,288 bedridden and immobile persons who requested for jabs at their residence.

Kumbhakoni then submitted that as on July 19, the BMC had identified around 3,505 patients who sought home vaccination so it was decided to start the drive in Mumbai from August 1 rather than in Pune which was proposed by the state earlier. Pune had only 50 people seeking home vaccination till July 19, he said. Kumbhakoni then assured the bench that the draft policy would be finalized without major modifications and a status report of home-vaccinated persons would be placed before the court in the next hearing.

Senior counsel Anil Sakhare for BMC confirmed the willingness of the civic authority to conduct free home vaccination from August 1. Sakhare added that a policy was required for private hospitals so that they can also provide facilities of home vaccination.

After hearing submissions, the bench said, “The Centre did not rise to the occasion. However, we record our satisfaction that the state has risen to the occasion and today, we find some light at the end of the tunnel.” The bench then sought a status report from the authorities and posted a hearing of the PIL to August 6.