You and Me: Drive-in Covid jabs: A boon for seniors and handicapped?

Dr Mangala Borkar

Professor of Geriatrics, GMCH, Aurangabad.

What if an elderly or ill or disabled person is driven in a car? to a ‘drive-in vax centre’ and get his COVID jab as he sits inside? We have seen it happening in America and recently in India too - at Mumbai, Nagpur, Gurugram, Odisha - and soon will happen everywhere. But what if you do not own a car? Will the Government help by subsidizing taxis, at least for seniors? Ideally with an acrylic partition between the masked driver and the back seat? Though more easily available, an open vehicle like a rickshaw or a two-wheeler would not give protection from infection. The distancing also would not be maintained and managing the crowd would be difficult. Here is what experts say.

Dr Surendra Jaiswal,

Consulting Physician, Ramkrishna Jaiswal Hospital

Advantages of drive-in vaccination:

·Safe, will reduce the risk of getting infected in a crowd, if car windows are closed before and after the jab.

·Convenient for the handicapped.

·In future, when they are permitted, will be comfortable for pregnant women.

·Rain or sun - no problem while waiting.

·Should be undertaken for truck drivers too, on highways.

·Needs a large area - a mall or other parking, a playground etc.

Dr Ujwala Zavar, Consulting Physician, Zavar Hospital

·This facility should be reserved for senior citizens, disabled or chronically ill patients.

·There should be a facility to park the vehicle nearby, for half an hour, for observation of the vaccine recipient.

·In case there is any problem, the healthcare staff should be easily accessible. Preferably, a few workers should move around, continuously, observing and responding quickly in case any help is needed.

·A functioning helpline number should be there at the vaccination center, as cars may be parked at a distance from it.

·The persons in the car should follow Covid norms and not be permitted to get out of it as they wait in the queue before vaccination or afterwards, for observation as it will compromise safety.