The message with the dialer tune in the national Capital asking people to get vaccinated was run down by the Delhi High Court which said the "irritating" message was being played for "we don't know how long." "You play that one irritating message on the phone ad nauseum whenever one makes a call, when you (Centre) don't have enough vaccine. You are not vaccinating people, but you still say that vaccination lagavaiye. Kaun lagayega, when there is no dose available. What is the point of the message," a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said.
"You should vaccinate everyone. Even if you are going to take money. That is what even children are saying," the bench said and added that the government needs to be "innovative." The court further said that the government should prepare more such messages instead of preparing just one and harping on it. "Until, like a tape it stops playing or starts skipping, you will run it for 10 years," the court said.
The bench said the government has to react to the situation on the ground. "So, please have more of these messages. When a person hears a different one every time, maybe it will help him/her," the court said. It also suggested using TV anchors or producers to air programmes, making people aware about use of oxygen concentrators and cylinders. It also said that celebs like Amitabh Bachchan can be asked to chip in but all this "needs to be done soon". ‘‘We are losing time. There should be a sense of urgency," the bench said and directed the Centre and the Delhi government to file their reports by May 18 on what steps they are going to take for disseminating information on COVID management via print and TV media and through dialer tunes.
