New Delhi:  In view of complaints by several users that they received notification of vaccination dose administered to them irrespective of missing their appointments made on CoWIN, the Union Health Ministry has introduced a new 4-digit security code feature in the CoWIN portal.

The ”4 digit security code” to minimise errors for online bookings/appointments is operational from May 8.The step was taken after it came to notice that some citizens, who had booked their appointment for COVID-19 vaccination through the CoWIN portal but did not actually go for vaccination on the scheduled date, received SMS notification saying that a vaccine dose has been administered to them.

“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,” the Health Ministry stated.

“In order to minimise such errors and the subsequent inconvenience caused to the citizens, the CoWIN system is introducing a new feature of 4-digit security code in the CoWIN application from May 8. Now, after verification, if the beneficiary has been found as eligible, before administering the vaccine dose, the verifier/vaccinator will ask the beneficiary about his/her 4-digit code and then enter the same in the CoWIN system to correctly record the vaccination status,” the Ministry said.

The Ministry further said, “This new feature will be applicable only for citizens who have done an online booking for a vaccination slot. The 4-digit security code will be printed in the appointment acknowledgment slip and will not be known to the vaccinator. The four-digit code will also be sent in the confirmation SMS sent to the beneficiary after successful booking of appointment. The Appointment Acknowledgement slip can also be saved and shown from the mobile.”

This will ensure that, for such citizens who have booked an online appointment, the data entries regarding vaccination status of a citizen, are recorded correctly and only for those who book online appointment and avail the services at the centre where they have booked the appointment. This will also reduce the opportunities of impersonation and wrongful use of flexibilities provided in CoWIN for facilitating vaccination coverage,” it added.

Here is how you can register for the Covid-19 vaccine after the introduction of the four-digit security code:

• Visit the CoWIN portal
• Register your mobile number by entering your contact details
• Enter the OTP you get via SMS. If you have already registered, just sign in with required               credentials.
• Enter your location; residence, State and District. You can also enter the PIN code of the nearest vaccination centre.
• You will be able to see all nearby vaccination centres and slots. Tap on the green slot of preference, select a time slot and confirm the booking
• You will be issued a four-digit security code which you will get as a text message. This code will be required to validate your booking on the vaccination day.
• After getting vaccinated, you can login to CoWIN portal to download your vaccine certificate.