All health centres have been informed and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will vaccinate bedridden people at their homes, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Saturday.
The Telegraph had reported on Friday that at least two KMC clinics had allegedly refused to vaccinate the elderly, bedridden persons at home and asked the families to take them to vaccination centres.
Hakim had earlier told The Telegraph that people who had been denied home vaccination should WhatsApp him their requirements on 9830037493. He had said that it was not right if any official had said that the KMC will not vaccinate the bedridden people at home.
On Saturday, he reiterated this. “We will vaccinate the bedridden persons at their homes. All the ward health centres have been informed,” Hakim said after the weekly phone-in programme ‘Talk to the Mayor’.
The KMC has 144 health clinics, one each in all the wards of the city. All these centres are functioning as Covid jab centres,too. A resident of Kolkata can get vaccinated in any of these centres.
“People who are keen to get the bedridden vaccinated at home have to give the identity card of the bedridden person along with a letter from a private doctor who will certify that the person is bedridden. The doctor must be present during and for 30 minutes after the vaccination,” Hakim said.
Families of two persons, both in their 90s, were told by officials at KMC clinics that vaccination at home was not allowed and they must be brought to the vaccination centres.
A senior KMC official said that vaccination at home was only meant for bedridden persons who cannot move. An elderly person who is mobile should not take advantage of this offer and get jabbed at home.
The official listed the requirements to be able to get the jab at home:
• A doctor has to give in writing that the bedridden person will not be able to visit a vaccination centre to get the jab.
• The doctor who gave the certificate must be present at home during the vaccination and for at least 30 minutes post-vaccination to monitor the recipient’s health.
• A family member should visit the KMC’s health clinic with the identity card of the bedridden person to get them registered for the jab.
