• Co-WIN App does not allow re-registration 
• Lack of clarity on giving fresh vaccination date  

Mysore/Mysuru: Can those 400 plus healthcare workers who missed the first dose of Covishield Vaccine on the inaugural day of vaccination drive on Jan. 16 be given fresh date to receive the vaccine?

This is the biggest question haunting officials of the Health Department since there is no clarity in the guidelines issued by Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry. Of the total 860 beneficiaries listed to receive the vaccine on the first day in the district, only 454 turned up. The remaining 406 persons did not come to vaccine locations due to ‘fear factor’. This despite sending them details of vaccination point, date and time. 

Dr. L. Ravi, Reproductive and Child Health Officer (RCHO) and COVID-19 Vaccination Officer, told SOM that they do not know what to do with 406 beneficiaries who skipped vaccination as Co-WIN App does not allow re-registration of names to get fresh date and time. 

To smoothen the vaccination process, the Government has rolled out a mobile application named Co-WIN. This application will help in identifying and monitoring the beneficiaries of COVID-19 vaccines. Once the name is registered, it is stored in the main server in New Delhi and cannot be altered at local level. Information regarding venue, date and time for vaccination will not be generated if they try to re-register the names of those missed persons afresh.

He said thousands of beneficiaries across the State have missed the first dose of vaccination and only the Government of India has to come out with a solution on giving fresh date. The State Government has to take up this matter with the Union Government to see whether it was possible to address this issue in Co-WIN App or else thousands would be left out in the first round of vaccination drive. 

Reasons for lackadaisical response

RCHO Dr. Ravi opined the canard about side effects of vaccine in rural areas and ‘fear factor’ have been the main reasons for unenthusiastic response. A few felt that healthcare workers were being used as experimental subjects for two vaccines which were invented within the shortest period of ten months. So, this forced some beneficiaries to absent themselves from session sites. 

“We need to cover those healthcare staff too on humanitarian grounds. But this issue has to be addressed in Delhi and not here,” he noted.