Faulty data entry in the Co-Win platform coupled with intermittent internet connectivity has led to the unavailability of vaccination certificates for some Jharkhand residents, who hardly have any other proof of immunisation against Covid-19.
While some beneficiaries who received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine are still being shown as non-vaccinated residents on the Co-Win portal, some residents have already received their second dose but they can only download the certificate for first jab after logging in on the Co-Win portal using their registered contact number.
Bhagirat Mahto, a 47-year-old resident of Sonahatu, is one such vaccine beneficiary who only has a handwritten chit to prove that he received the first of two vaccine jabs. He got his first dose at a government-run session site at Morhabadi on June 12. He directly walked-in at the vaccination centre and got a shot of Covishield without booking a slot online in advance.
A month later, when Mahto logged in on Co-Win to check the date for his second jab, the website displayed him as a non-vaccinated resident.
“I only have this handwritten chit to prove that I have received the first dose. The staff members at the session site gave me this chit and said that my certificate will be available on Co-Win, but there was no certificate available on the website. The website said
that I have not booked a slot for the first shot yet,” said Mahto, a security guard at an apartment on Kanke Road.
Another 45-year-old resident of Ratu Road, who did not wish to be named, recently got his second dose of vaccine at a government-run session site. However, after logging in on Co-Win, he noticed that the platform has once again registered him for a second jab, counting his latest dose as the first of the two.
An IT staff from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), an organisation that has been assisting the government in web-based management of the immunisation programme against Covid-19, said that there was no way to make backlog entries on the Co-Win platform.
“The problem is clearly caused due to faulty data entry or intermittent internet connectivity,” he said, requesting anonymity.
Suggesting ways to address such problems, he said that people who haven’t got their certificates should immediately visit the vaccination centre they got vaccinated at and ask them to make an entry on the current day. This might delay their second jab by a few days, but they will still get it within the stipulated time period, he added.
State immunisation officer Dr Ajit Prasad was unavailable for his remarks on the matter on Wednesday. Another vaccination official, not entitled to talk to the media, said that people who have not received the certificate for their first dose of vaccine can directly go for the second dose carrying any documentary evidence of their first jab and get the final vaccination certificate.
Jharkhand has administered Covid-19 vaccines to over 7.73 lakh residents since the launch of the nationwide immunisation programme on January 16.