Many in city await 2nd dose after 1st dose vax details go missing on CoWIN

CHENNAI: With the imbroglio over UK claiming that the COVID vaccine certification could be an issue with India not finding a place in the list of countries requiring no quarantine, several people from Chennai have claimed that they noticed glitches in the CoWin portal and vaccine certification. Moreover, many are still awaiting their second doses past the scheduled date as their certificates have not yet been issued and neither are their details available on the portal.

N Vasanth, a native of Pudukkottai had received the first dose of Covishield at a PHC but his vaccination details were not updated on the portal. Now, vaccination sites are not willing to inoculate him as he does not have any evidence of being administered the first dose. “They gave me a form to fill during the first dose and told me that I would get the e-certificate. I am now scheduled for the second dose. I work in Chennai, but when I approached sites here, they wanted my certificate which I couldn’t provide. I don’t have any details against my phone number or Aadhaar on CoWIN,” Vasanth told DT Next.

In another instance, M Ajay, a resident of Chengalpattu, did not receive acknowledgement of the first dose of Covishield. “When I asked vaccination centre officials to update my details, I was told that there is no record of my vaccination. I am worried about my second dose,” said Ajay.

However, Health Department officials say that these are isolated complaints and that there has been no major lapse in the process. “These can be data entry faults in such cases. All the entries are being recorded and details are uploaded on the CoWIN portal. Individual complaints can be brought to the Health Department and we will instruct the vaccination sites also to check records in such cases,” said Dr Vinay Kumar, Immunisation Officer, Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.