Ministry d ismisses vaccine fraud claim

INDIA’S Union Health Ministry this week claimed that some international media reports alleging “vaccination fraud” were misleading and completely ill-informed.

“There have been some media reports in international media alleging ‘vaccination fraud’ and claiming that people are being fraudulently registered as double vaccinated without receiving both doses. These reports have also alleged that the vaccination ‘figures were being manipulated’.

“It is clarified that such media reports are not only misleading but are completely ill-informed, and without any basis,” said the ministry.

It said India's nationwide Covid vaccination drive was supported with a strong technology back-up by CO-WIN digital platform that had performed exceptionally in the last year of the vaccination drive.

All Covid vaccinations are recorded in this digital platform.

CO-WIN is an inclusive platform/ system designed for the limitations and challenges of mobile and internet availability across the country.

Features and flexibility to ensure that every eligible individual had access to vaccination, regardless of any physical, digital or socioeconomic barriers to access, had been incorporated in CO-WIN, the ministry said.

The ministry clarified that the beneficiaries had been empowered to make necessary corrections in their records on CO-WIN. The “raise an issue” module in the beneficiary dashboard allows the beneficiaries to make corrections, apart from changes in basic demographic details like name, age, gender and photo ID.

“It needs to be appreciated that even with its very large population, India has successfully implemented its Covid vaccination programme, covering more than 76% of the eligible population above 18 years with both the doses,” the ministry said. |