On August 8, Union Health Minister Mansukh L. Mandaviya informed that COVID-19 vaccination certificates can be obtained by vaccinated individuals via WhatsApp within seconds.
Office of Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted, “Revolutionising common man’s life using technology!” He further added the steps required to receive the certificate.
Revolutionising common man's life using technology!
Now get #COVID19 vaccination certificate through MyGov Corona Helpdesk in 3 easy steps.
📱 Save contact number: +91 9013151515
🔤 Type & send 'covid certificate' on WhatsApp
🔢 Enter OTPGet your certificate in seconds.
— Office of Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@OfficeOf_MM) August 8, 2021
Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor referred to the process as “simple and fast.”
I’ve always acknowledged & praised the Government when it merits it. As a critic of #Cowin, let me say they’ve done something terrific. Send a @WhatsApp message “download certificate” to 90131 51515, receive OTP & get your vaccination certificate back by @WhatsApp. Simple&fast!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 8, 2021
However, several individuals who tried to follow the steps ended up receiving incorrect results. Some of them said that the certificate had mentioned a single date for both doses. Others complained that they were informed that they were unvaccinated even when they were fully vaccinated.
As per a provisional report issued by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday evening, India’s cumulative vaccine coverage stood at over 50.62 crore, i.e., 50,62,18,296 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.
On August 7, around 27,55,447 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered as the first dose and 5,08,616 were given as the second shot to the people aged 18-44 years.
As of now, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than a crore cumulative COVID-19 vaccine shots in the age group of 18-44 years.
More than 10 lakh beneficiaries have been inoculated in the age group of 18-44 years for the first dose in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.