The CoWIN app — short for COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network — will use an Aadhaar-based authentication system for the eventual rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the CoWIN system will also allow for the creation of a Unique Digital Health ID for those being vaccinated. The Drugs Controller General of India had recently approved two COVID-19 vaccines, whose rollout is being planned by the government. The CoWIN system is expected to be key in rolling out the vaccines to healthcare and frontline workers, and eventually to the general population. The Health ministry envisions the CoWIN system as the answer to all logistical challenges of the vaccination rollout. Bhushan explained in a press briefing that the vaccines will be tracked from when the manufacturer transports them to "primary vaccine stores", then to "state vaccine stores" and so on. He added that healthcare and frontline workers don't need to worry about registering themselves on the app as their data will be taken from a "bulk database" that has already been populated into the CoWIN system. QR-code certificates on DigiLocker: Once people get the required two doses of the vaccine, a QR-code certificate will get stored on the government's Digilocker app, said Bhushan. Creation of Unique Health ID: Beneficiaries will also have the option of generating a Unique Health ID at the time of vaccination through the CoWIN app. For now, this feature seems voluntary as it will be only for "willing beneficiaries". Only days…
