Modi's photo removed from vax certificates

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi's photo has been removed from Covid vaccination certificates issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

“Together, India will defeat Covid-19," the CoWIN certificates had long borne images of PM Modi along with the caption. Now, the quote remains with an attribution to Prime Minister on the certificates.

A social media user Sandeep Manudhane pointed out the removal on X (formerly Twitter) and shared a picture of Covid vaccine certificate. “Modi ji no more visible on Covid Vaccine certificates. Just downloaded to check - yes, his pic is gone," he wrote.

Notably, this is not the first time that Modi's photo has been removed from Covid vaccine certificates. In 2022, the Prime Minister's picture was pulled out in states including Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, The Print reported. 

Sandeep attributed the removal of Modi's picture to the Model Code of Conduct, while speculating that this has been done after Covishield rare side effects row. 

Recently, AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical giant that developed the vaccine in partnership with the University of Oxford, had admitted in court documents in the UK that its COVID-19 vaccine could cause a rare side effect known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS). 

However, the company reaffirmed its dedication to patient safety amid a class action lawsuit in the UK. TTS is characterised by blood clots (thrombosis) combined with low levels of platelets (thrombocytopenia), which are necessary for blood clotting.

In India, the vaccine was produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer.

Netizens react

Another social media user Santosh Iyer also said the same, “Yes, you are correct. I checked and find that Modi's photo is no longer visible on the covid vaccination certificates!"

“It is because MCC. If he comes back to power again you will find his photo," one more person commented. 

“Sir, expect you to not mislead people. This has nothing to do with what you are hinting at. It is due to model code of conduct and ECI guidelines. In all poll bound states the photo was removed even…," the fourth user reacted. 

“It was removed earlier also if you gave ID as passport for international travel. That was done after many country immigration confused the picture with the picture of visitor and refused to let him in," the fifth user said.