Faulty data entry on the Co-WIN platform is leading to a host of problems for vaccine beneficiaries: some are not able to download their certificates, while some who have got both doses of the vaccine are getting a certificate that only confirms them as first dose recipients.
Bhagirat Mahto, a 47-year-old resident of Sonahatu in suburban Ranchi, got his first jab from a government-run session site at Morhabadi on June 12. He walked in at the vaccination centre and got the first dose of Covishield without booking a slot online in advance. Bhagirat was given a handwritten chit, which carried the date and the vaccine name on it, at the session site and told that his vaccination certificate would be available on the Co-WIN platform.
Cut to July 14, Bhagirat, who works as a security guard at an apartment on Kanke Road, was worried after he logged in with his registered mobile number on Co-WIN to check the date for his second dose. The website showed him as a non-vaccinated resident.
“I only have this handwritten parchi (chit) to prove that I have received the first dose. I need to get my vaccination certificate as people in my Panchayat have decided not to give ration to those who do not get vaccinated,” said a visibly anxious Bhagirat.
Bhagirat, however, is not the only vicitm of “human error” made allegedly by "overburdened" data entry staff at vaccination centres in Jharkhand.
A 45-year-old resident of Ratu Road, who did not wish to be named, recently got his second dose of the vaccine at a government-run session site. However, after logging in to Co-WIN, he noticed that the platform has once again registered him for a second jab, counting his latest dose as the first of two.
An information technology staffer from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who has been assisting the government in web-based management of the immunisation programme, 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. People who are facing such issues 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,” the UNDP staffer said.
With such largescale immunisation going on across the state, minor errors in data entry and faulty updates due to technical glitches may have to be accepted as part and parcel of the programme, he said, adding that such errors also occurred on the websites of some of the leading global e-commerce giants during delivery of products.
State immunisation officer Dr Ajit Prasad was unavailable for comment on Wednesday. Another vaccination official, not authorised to talk to the media, said that people who have not received a certificate for their first dose can directly go for the second dose carrying any documentary evidence of their first jab.
Jharkhand has administered Covid-19 vaccines to over 7.73 lakh residents since the launch of the nationwide immunisation programme on January 16.