Four-digit security code, CoWIN digital platform adds new security feature

To minimize the errors and inconveniences faced in the online registration for the vaccination, the government has been introducing a new feature in the application. The new feature is about the 'four-digit security code' to the vaccinator, the digital certificate will be only after the code is submitted to the vaccinator.

The Union Health Minister in a statement said, "It has been noticed in some instances that citizens that had booked their appointment for Covid vaccination through CoWIN portal, but did not actually go for vaccination on the scheduled date, have received notification through SMS that a vaccine dose has been administered to them."

He further said, "Upon vaccination, it has been found to occur largely on account of the Vaccinator wrongly marking the citizen as vaccinated that means, an instance of a data entry error by the vaccinator."

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After the introduction of this new security feature, before administrating the vaccine dose, the vaccinator will ask the beneficiary about his/her four-digit code and then enter the same in the CoWIN system to correctly record the vaccination status. 

The ministry about the feature said, "This new feature will be applicable only for citizens who have done online booking for a vaccination slot. The 'four-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 the successful booking of the appointment. The appointment acknowledgment slip can also be saved and shown from the mobile."

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The ministry said that this new feature will ensure that the data will be recorded correctly regarding the vaccination status of a citizen. This will also reduce the opportunities of wrongful use of flexibilities provided in CoWIN application. 

The Ministry further said, "Citizen should get a confirmation SMS after the process has been successfully completed. This SMS will indicate that the vaccination process has been completed and the digital certificate has been generated. If one will not receive the confirmation SMS he/she must get in touch with the vaccinator."