THIS refers to the report ‘Around 300,000 fail to get second dose of vaccine’ (June 8). While there may be other reasons for this failure, my own experience suggests this could be the result of the second dose simply not being recorded in the system.

At the time I got myself and my family vaccinated, I had also made arrangements for my domestic staff to follow suit. The three of them received their first dose in the first week of May and returned to get their second dose three weeks later. The two doses were duly recorded and stamped on the vaccination cards given to each of them.

After a couple of days, I entered the details in the National Immunisation Management System (Nims) database to obtain the usual vaccination certificates, but found that the system was still showing that all of them ‘needed to visit their designated vaccination centre to get the second dose’.

After repeating the process for many more days, I visited the relevant centre where I was told that the delay was due to pressure of work and the data would be updated soon. Nothing happened though.

A second visit on the 10th day post-vaccination with much more forceful representation produced the desired results, as the data was entered in the computer and the system began to show the vaccination process as having being completed.

Interestingly, however, the date of the second dose shown in the vaccination certificate is not the date of actual vaccination, but the date when the details were finally entered in the database. This proves that no entry had been made even in the centre’s computer system.

It is, therefore, possible, and, in fact, highly likely that the people, who, according to the Nims, have failed to turn up for their second dose, have actually been vaccinated but the data has not been updated. After all, most people taking the trouble to get the first dose would not be averse to vaccination. They would be looking forward to completing the vaccination process as soon as possible.

Given the highly efficient data processing system developed by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the issue can be addressed by a simple process. Each of the persons not receiving the second dose within, say, 10 days of the due date, can be sent an SMS to punch one of the two options: ‘1’ to indicate that the process has been completed, and ‘0’ for the second dose still pending. Nims can then compare the answers with its system status.

These cases can then be referred back to the relevant vaccination centres for them to recheck and update the record.

Saeed Haider

Karachi

(2)

I HAD gone to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) along with two friends on April 25 for the first dose of Covid vaccine. The staff was courteous and the arrangements were nicely done. We revisited the centre on May 16 and things again went smoothly. According to official data, however, we have still not received our second dose. My friend personally went to the JPMC on May 29 along with the proof of vaccination and was promised that the record would be updated. However, there has been no change in the status to date.

The department concerned must update the online record so that we may get the vaccination certificate that is required for travelling abroad.

Wasim Kureishy

Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2021