Some await vax certificate, others get incorrect ones

Some await vax certificate, others get incorrect ones

Komal.Gautham@timesgroup.com

Chennai:05.09.2021

Radhika got the first dose of the Covishield vaccine at Alwarpet in June, but didn’t get her certificate. Now, the Cowin portal says the 21-year-old hasn’t been vaccinated at all.

Several others are in a similar situation. One had to get vaccinated a third time because staff at a Greater Chennai Corporation centre didn’t enter his details into the portal while administering the first dose. Another person was given a Covishield certificate after taking a Covaxin shot. The civic body has been getting at least 50 such complaints almost daily since the vaccination drive began, said an official.

Reasons are aplenty. Lack of trained data entry operators, problems with network and Wi-Fi, website traffic and lack of adequate staff. “Even if the website isn’t working, the staff may ask the person to get vaccinated and may forget to upload the details on the portal later. Sometimes, they aren’t registered at all. And wrong entries by staff are common,” said a corporation official, adding that efforts are made to try and help those with grievances.

Residents say there should be a common portal or a specific grievance mechanism. Umanath V of Mogappair completed both doses of vaccination, but the portal didn’t accept the second dose because his age was entered wrongly. “I have been asked to go to Ripon Buildings for correction. Why are we faced with so much hassle for their mistake,” he asked. Bharath Ragunathan of Kodambakkam got a Covaxin shot with his Aadhaar card but a Covishield certificate and was asked for his PAN card to change it.

As per the Cowin portal, until September 3, 50.8 lakh people in Chennai have been vaccinated so far, but the corporation figure is 40.4 lakh.

Such wrong entries won’t affect actual numbers, said deputy commissioner (revenue and finance) Vishu Mahajan, adding that the Cowin portal was only for registration and while the actual numbers were entered on the e-win portal. “Our numbers may not match Cowin numbers until properly reconciled,” he said. A health department official said residents can get errors rectified at the vaccination centres concerned. “The state is helping us as we are sending details of all the wrong entries and corrections daily.”

Lack of trained data entry operators, problems with network and Wi-Fi, website traffic and lack of adequate staff among the reasons cited