A day after news reports claimed the UK-headquartered pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca in a court admitted that its Covid-19 vaccine can cause low platelet count and a blood clot-related side effect, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo has been removed from CoWIN certificates issued for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Usually, these vaccination certificates issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare featured PM Modi's image with a quote saying, “Together, India will defeat COVID-19.”
The ministry hasn't removed the quote but his name has been ommited.
After reports on Astrazaneca, many in India checked their vaccine certificate to see if they had taken the same vaccine.
Was it because of news about the Astrazaneca vaccine's side effect the reason behind PM Modi's image being removed from the vaccine certificate? The answer is no. PM Modi's images were taken down from various platforms after the Model Code of Conduct came to effect ahead of Lok Sabha election.
This isn't the first occasion when PM Modi's photo was taken down, during state assembly elections in various states in the last few years, the photos of PM Modi were removed till the MCC was in place.
Why does the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare use PM Modi's photo on vaccine certificates?
In August 2021, in a written response given in Rajya Sabha, then Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar had said, “The photograph, along with the message of the Prime Minister in the vaccination certificates reinforces the message for creating awareness about the importance of following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour even after vaccination, in the larger public interest.”
Interestingly, India is the only country that uses its leader's image on the vaccine certificate.
