PM Modi's photo removed from CoWIN certificate amid Covishield controversy

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph was removed from Covid-19 vaccine certificate amid the controversy surrounding the Covishield vaccine. Though many social media users speculated that the removal of the photo was related to the admission by AstraZeneca that Covishield can cause blood clots in rare cases, official sources claimed that the photo was removed as part of the election model code of conduct.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare officials told The Print that the image was removed according to the Election Commission of India's (ECI) directions, as the MCC is in place during the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha 2024 elections.

In 2021, the Kerala High Court had dismissed a plea challenging the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi being affixed on the vaccination certificates issued to citizens upon being vaccinated against Covid-19 and imposed a hefty cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner. “They may not be proud of their PMs, we are proud of our PM,” Justice PV Kunhikrishnan had then said.

UK-headquartered pharma giant AstraZeneca had recently admitted that in "very rare cases", its COVID-19 vaccine, which is known as Vaxzevria in Europe and Covishield in India, can cause a blood clot-related side effect but the causal link is unknown, according to court papers being quoted in the UK media. In India, the AstraZeneca vaccine was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.