The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (11/05/2021) disposed of a petition seeking setting up of drive-in Covid-19 vaccination centres in Delhi without passing any orders and asked the Central and State governments to consider the petition as a representation.
The petition filed by Delhi based trader Amandeep Aggarwal sought the conversion of designated open spaces in the capital into drive-in Covid-19 vaccination centres.
The matter was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice D. N. Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh.
During the hearing, the petitioner informed the court that such drive-in vaccination centres are effectively functioning in Mumbai and other cities. The petitioner argued that the crowding of people at vaccination centres is defeating the curfew and lockdown imposed to control the spread of the infection. The petition states that:
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) has implemented Drive-in vaccinations in Mumbai whereunder the citizens can drive into a vaccination centre and get themselves vaccinated without coming in contact with others and maintaining social distancing.
The petitioner also submitted that if drive-in vaccination is adopted it will prevent contact between people coming to get vaccinated and will also address the vaccine hesitancy of some sections of the population.
Apart from directions to the Central and State governments to convert identified open spaces to drive-in vaccination centres, the plea also sought directions to Central and State Disaster Management Authorities to identify appropriate places to set up the vaccination centres and modifications to the Cowin platform and the Aarogya Setu App to reflect the new centres.
Disposing of the petition the court directed the Central and State government to consider the petition as a representation and try to implement the drive-in vaccination according to the rules and laws used in the containment of the pandemic.
The national capital is still under pressure from the spreading infections and reported 12,481 new cases on Tuesday. However, the test positivity rate has declined from 19% to 17.76% giving hopes of a possible decline in the spread of the disease in the city. Delhi is under lockdown till 5 AM on 17th May 2021.
