MUMBAI: The earlier BMC guidelines for vaccination camps at workplaces or housing complexes, issued in May, had put the onus on the private Covid vaccination centres who would administer the jabs to inform the local ward office, which was not done in case of some of the suspicious vaccination camps held across the city.
Now, the new regulations say not only does the housing society have to inform the ward office, it also needs to inform the local police station and on the day of the camp, a police officer has to be present on site. The BMC has asked residents to insist on getting a digital certificate immediately after the jab (see box).
On June 14, BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had ordered that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the private vaccination centre with any workplace or housing society should have details like number of medical staff stationed at the site and ambulances in case of adverse effects following immunisation (AEFI). In the first case of the fake drive at a Kandivli housing society, the BMC found there was no MoU with the hospital, nor were the credentials of those administering the jabs verified.
Advocate Vinod Sampat, president of the cooperative societies residents and users association, questioned why police have to be informed about a vaccination drive. “There is no question of law and order that one needs to involve the police. While the intention is noble, the BMC should keep the guidelines simple; the society should inform the BMC and it can verify the details and allow them to go ahead with the camp,” said Sampat.
Political leaders too criticised the BMC, saying it was putting the responsibility on everyone, from housing societies to private hospitals and doctors.
“Why can’t the BMC itself check whether a vaccination camp is genuine or not? It should be mandatory to inform the BMC in advance about the vaccine batch number. I have demanded that the (affected) residents be vaccinated again, now that it is a month and it’s highly unlikely proper vaccine was administered to them,” said Kandivli MLA Yogesh Sagar.
In a letter to the deputy registrar of co-operative societies on June 29, the public health department had mentioned that the new SOPs were in response to the Kandivli incident in which unverified and possibly fake vaccines were given to some residents of the Hiranandani Heritage Co-operative Housing Society during a camp held at the complex.
On Thursday, BMC’s senior counsel Anil Sakhare shared the SOPs with a high court bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni, which was hearing a PIL filed by Siddharth Chandrashekhar over CoWin accessibility for all. His counsel Anita Castellino said the private camps must have stricter scrutiny over information regarding the batch of vaccine and guidelines for proper record and destruction of vials.
