The Bombay High Court asked the Centre and state to address the issue of COVID-19 vaccination of the homeless and mentally ill on Monday, September 13.
A division bench comprising chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni told the centre and state government to formulate policies required to vaccinate the person recognized by the state. The decision came during a hearing of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by activist TJ Bhanu.
The High Court has given three weeks to the authorities for informing the court about the same.
Earlier, the May 2017 advisory of the Central Government did not contain any guidelines for such people.
Addressing the same, the bench reportedly said that if the authorities leave out to vaccinate the mentally ill homeless people and if he/she is left to decide, they would be "a threat to society.
The bench then said, "why don’t you come up with a policy to vaccinate the mentally ill."
The Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representing the Central government, further said that as per Mental Healthcare Act 2017, it is the duty of the police to identify the mentally ill person. They can take steps to reunite them with their family members, and a "near to home vaccination" policy is suitable here.
A consent certificate will be needed to vaccinate them.
The bench also noted that the state affidavit was ‘silent’ on those mentally ill persons who are homeless and whether they are vaccinated.
As per data, 1,761 mentally ill persons, that were vaccinated might include people who stay with their families. They can have consent to get vaccinated.
HC has asked the authorities to seek ‘better’ affidavits which include steps to reach out to such people.
A further hearing will take place after three weeks.
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