Consider Letting Housing Societies Run Vaccination Camps: High Court

The issue relating to permit the RWAs to carry out vaccinations for the residents of the locality was raised by amicus curiae and senior advocate Raj Shekhar Rao.

The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to "seriously" consider involving RWAs in the COVID-19 vaccination drive in association with private hospitals, making it convenient and safe for residents to get jabs at nearby centres. In case the government finds merit in this suggestion, the position may be clarified without any delay and if the authorities are not inclined to permit Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) to organise such camps, the reasons shall be disclosed in a status report, the high court said. "In our view, the said aspect deserves serious consideration, and unless there are any specific reasons why the Central Government would not want the RWAs to play a role in the vaccination drive, there should be no impediment in designating the camps organised by the RWAs in association with private hospitals as vaccination centres run by private hospitals. "Permitting vaccinations to be undertaken at such camps would go a long way in making it convenient and safe for the residents of the colonies to get themselves vaccinated at such centres. The Central Government should, therefore, seriously consider this proposal at the earliest," said a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh, which was hearing pleas relating to management of COVID-19 crisis in Delhi.