COVID-19 Vaccines | CoWIN will have 4-digit security code from May 8 to reduce data entry errors

The Health Ministry said that beneficiaries, if found eligible after verification and before administering the vaccine, will be asked for their 4-digit code, which will then be entered into the CoWIN system to correctly record their vaccination status. (Representative Image. Source: AP)

The Centre’s CoWIN vaccine system will introduce a new 4-digit security code from May 8 to “minimise data entry errors” for vaccination status, the Union Health Ministry said.

The ministry added that minimising errors will reduce inconvenience to citizens who booked their vaccine appointment and did not show up for the jab, but still received SMS notifications that their dose had been administered.

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“Upon examination, it has been found to occur largely on account of the vaccinator wrongly marking the citizen as vaccinated, an instance of data entry error by the vaccinator. In order to minimise such errors and subsequent inconvenience caused to citizens, the CoWIN system is introducing a new feature of four-digit security code in the CoWIN application from May 8,” the statement read.

It added that beneficiaries, if found eligible after verification and before administering the vaccine, will be asked for their 4-digit code, which will then be entered into the CoWIN system to correctly record their vaccination status.

The code will also be printed in the appointment slip (which can be saved on mobile as well) and will be in the confirmation SMS sent to beneficiary after successful booking. Notably, this will not be applicable for walk-ins, but only for online booking of vaccination slots.

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The ministry further added that this will “also reduce opportunities of impersonation and wrongful use of flexibilities provided in CoWIN”.

Citizens are advised to carry a digital or physical copy of their appointment slip and registered mobile number with confirmation SMS during the vaccination process.

“Citizens must provide the security code to the vaccinator as the digital certificate will be generated only after the vaccination record has been updated with the security code. Citizen should get a confirmation SMS after the process has been successfully completed,” it added.

If you do not receive a confirmation SMS, please contact the vaccinator or the vaccination centre in-charge, the ministry added.

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(With inputs from PTI)