BELAGAVI: Healthcare workers, the priority group, must furnish their Aadhaar cards to receive the Covid-19 vaccine as the government plans a biometric-based delivery system across the country, officials revealed.
At the district level, the health department is gathering data on private and public healthcare workers on the frontline of the battle against the pandemic to generate a database for a centrally monitored Covid-19 vaccination beneficiary management system (CVBMS).
This is an extension of the existing electronic vaccine intelligence network (eVIN) module for individualised tracking of all beneficiaries who receive the vaccine. Officials say the deadline to gather data at the district level is October 31.
While the healthcare workers’ database guidelines in the new CVBMS system do not list Aadhaar details, it later states that the document musty be produced at the time of vaccination.
Dr Rajesh, reproductive and child health officer, Mangaluru district, confirmed Aadhaar is mandatory during vaccination. However, for the database, identity proof like voter ID, licence, passport, pan card and others are sufficient. Dr Rajesh, however, said the government is yet to notify a set of rules and regulations for a biometric-based vaccine delivery system.
Dr Sashikanth Muniyal, district health officer, Belagavi, said, “The department already has every detail on each government employee, but now we are collecting data from contract and private workers.”
The government is generating a comprehensive nationwide centralised data system on healthcare and it will include private establishments too, officials say.
District health and family welfare offices will upload details on health facilities, both government and private, like primary healthcare centres, community health centres, corporate hospitals, nursing hospitals, polyclinics, OPD clinics and medical colleges in the private segment. Names, location and postal address of these facilities will be collected.
The health department is also collecting details such as name, gender, date of birth, proof of ID (with photo), mobile numbers, postal code and employee ID of healthcare workers. Interestingly, healthcare workers will have to furnish mobile numbers linked to Aadhaar cards. In case s/he does not have such a number, then numbers of family members or friends — linked to Aadhaar — can be given.
While the registry appears a bright idea, Dr Srinivas Kakkilaya, general physician, raised questions on the safety of the data and transparency of the system.
“The government only needs the exact number of healthcare workers and not their personal details to estimate the number of vaccines required,” Dr Kakkilaya said. “We do not know who is accessing this mammoth data which has every potential to be misused, especially in this era of cybercrimes. The top brass in the health sector must question the intention behind gathering this data.”