Reports of Certificates Not Issued Post Covid Vaccination Incorrect, Unfounded: Health Ministry

The Union health ministry on Monday dismissed as incorrect and unfounded media reports claiming that certificates were not issued to some people post COVID-19 vaccination. “There have been some unfounded media reports on no certificates issued post Covid vaccination. These reports are incorrect and are not supported by full information on the matter,” the ministry said. The CoWIN platform facilitates registration, scheduling of appointments, vaccination and certification of beneficiaries during the COVID-19 vaccination process, it said.

Even though a beneficiary is registered online or on-site on CoWIN, the most important step after the person gets the jab is to update the status on the platform on the day of the vaccination, it said. If it is not possible to update the status on the same day, the data entry of that session can be done the next day till 5 pm on CoWIN portal, the ministry said in a statement.

Thus, there is extended scope for data entry of vaccination on the next day too. This utility is provided to obviate the need for backlog data entry of vaccination, it said. The web link for COVID-19 vaccination certificate is available in the SMS sent to the beneficiary after the successful updation of the vaccination status on CoWIN.

Further, the Union government has also issued advisories from time to time that vaccination certificates are to be issued to everyone on the same day of administration of the dose and before they exit the vaccination centre, it said. COVID-19 vaccination certificate can also be downloaded from CoWIN portal, or Arogya Setu/Umang mobile application. It can be downloaded after each dose (provisional certificate after first dose and final certificate after second dose), the ministry said. “It may be possible that the beneficiary’s vaccination status has not been updated by the vaccinator at the time of vaccination, this may lead to a person to not get a vaccination certificate from the CoWIN system. To eliminate this issue, CoWIN system will soon provide features to remove such errors,” the ministry said.

However, citizens are also advised to check if they received the confirmation SMS post administration of a vaccine dose, the ministry underlined. Receipt of confirmation SMS denotes that the status has been updated by the vaccinator. The citizens are also advised to check the certificate through the link provided in the confirmation SMS or by logging in to the CoWIN portal. In case any errors are noticed in the certificate, the same should immediately be brought to the attention of the vaccinator, who can then rectify it, the ministry said.

The central government has been supporting the efforts of the states and UTs for an effective vaccination drive under the ‘whole of government’ approach since January 16, this year, the ministry said. In order to streamline the availability of the vaccine doses, the central government has been constantly in touch with the vaccine manufacturers and has opened up different procurement options for states and UTs since May 1, it said.

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