I GOT vaccinated at a centre in Lahore recently. When I downloaded the vaccination certificate from the web portal of the National Immunisation Management System (Nims), I was surprised to note that the date of my second vaccination dose had not been correctly mentioned.

According to the certificate, I had received my second dose a month later than when it was actually due, which was factually wrong. Fortunately, I have a digital copy of both the vaccination forms that I had filled at the time of getting each of the two doses of the vaccination.

On the Nims portal, there is an option to complain about errors in the vaccination certificate. Using the option I submitted my complaint and requested that the error be corrected. The portal informed me that the vaccination certificate cannot be corrected. The reason given on the portal was, “date cannot be changed as certificate issued”. I am not sure if I was more surprised when the error was committed or when the error was not rectified.

How can one know about any error, or otherwise, in the said certificate when it is not issued? There is no ‘preview’ option on the portal where things could be pointed out before the certificate is issued. And if errors cannot be corrected after the issuance of the certificate, what is the point of using the ‘complaint’ option on the portal? Does Nims expect the people to know about the errors in the certificate before its issuance using some sort of extra-sensory perception or some other mysterious way?

The error in the certificate is due to the negligence of the people who update the records in the system, and it is the responsibility of Nims to find a way out to correct the error. Why should a person who is not responsible for the error suffer due to the negligence of Nims staff?

Muhammad Uzair Bhaur
Lahore

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2021