CoWIN Launches 'Know Your Customer's Vaccination Status' - Know How It Works

CoWIN has developed a new API called "Know the vaccination status of your customer/client", or KYC-VS, which will allow a verification entity to know if a person has been vaccinated against the coronavirus or not, the Ministry of Union Health. More than 72 crore doses of vaccine have been administered since the COVID-19 vaccination campaign was suspended on January 16 of this year in the country.

To provide proof of vaccination for each of these individuals, CoWIN is already issuing a digitally verifiable certificate. This certificate can be saved on a digital device (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) or stored in Digi Locker from where it can be digitally shared when needed as proof of vaccination, the ministry said in a statement. Similarly, at points of entry where such a certificate is required (for example, in shopping malls, office complexes, public events, etc.), it can be displayed in both digital and physical form. However, there may be cases where an entity does not need to see the full certificate and would only need to know whether a person has been vaccinated or not, the ministry said.

A company/employer may want to know the vaccination status of its employees to resume their functions in offices, workplaces, etc., he added. Railways may want to obtain the vaccination status of passengers who are reserving their seats on trains. Airlines may want to obtain the vaccination status of passengers who book their plane tickets, and/or airports may only wish to allow vaccinated passengers through. Hotels may want to know the vaccination status of residents at the time they check-in at the hotel or when making reservations online, she added. "As socio-economic activities are gradually being revived while keeping everyone safe, there is a need for a way to digitally transmit the vaccination status of individuals to entities with which they may be engaged by any or all of the reasons, such as employees, passengers, residents, etc.

The ministry said in the statement: "Therefore, there is a need to enable an Aadhaar like authentication service for the status of vaccination through CoWIN. To take care of these cases and others that may come up, CoWIN has developed a new API called 'Know Your Customer's/Client's Vaccination Status' or KYC-VS,"

To use this API, a person must enter their phone number and her name. Thereafter, they will get an OTP that they need to enter. In return, Co-WIN will send a response to the verifying entity about the individual's vaccination status, which will be the following:

- Unvaccinated person

- Partially vaccinated person

- The person is fully vaccinated

This response will be digitally signed and can be instantly shared with the verifying entity, the ministry said. The KYC-VS is based on consent and preserves privacy, he added. In addition, to facilitate faster integration and adoption, the CoWIN team has prepared a web page with the API, which can be integrated into any system.