CoWIN develops interface to peek at jab status of individuals

The software is called KYC/VS — Know Your Customer or Client/Vaccination Status which will digitally convey information to entities whom they may be engaging with

The status will be “0” if a person is not vaccinated, “1” if partially vaccinated and “2” if fully vaccinated.: File picture

Special Correspondent   |   TT  |   New Delhi   |  11.09.21: India’s digital platform for Covid-19 vaccination will allow employers, airlines, railways, hotels and other entities to know the jab status of individuals without intrusions into their privacy, the Union health ministry said on Friday.

The CoWIN digital platform has developed a software interface that will digitally convey the vaccination status of individuals — such as employees or passengers or hotel residents — to entities whom they may be engaging with for any reason.

The interface is called KYC/VS — Know Your Customer or Client/Vaccination Status.

Although CoWIN already generates vaccination certificates that fully inoculated individuals can show either in physical or digital formats, the new software interface — also called application programming interface — will eliminate the need for people to show these certificates.

To use the interface, a verifier needs to enter an individual’s mobile number and name. This will generate an OTP (one-time password) that will also need to be entered into the application by the individual for the verifier to know the vaccination status. In return, CoWIN will send a response to the verifying entity specifying the individual’s vaccination status.

The status will be “0” if a person is not vaccinated, “1” if partially vaccinated and “2” if fully vaccinated.

The health ministry said enterprises might wish to know the vaccination status of employees, and railways or airlines might want to know the vaccination status of passengers seeking to reserve journey tickets.

Hotels might wish to check the vaccination status of guests checking in.

But representatives of the hospitality industry said the Covid-19 pandemic had hit the sector so hard that they were unlikely to turn away guests who are unvaccinated.

Pradeep Shetty, joint honorary secretary of the Federation of the Hotels and Restaurants Associations of India, said: “The current revenues are between 30 and 50 per cent of pre-Covid levels. Are hotels or restaurants in a position to decline services to unvaccinated guests? Would they want to know the status?”