Covid vax certificates: PM's photo missing but it’s not what you are thinking

Remember how happy we were to get our Covishield and Covaxin vaccines after trawling the net endlessly and networking desperately to get that much-needed immunity against the dreaded Covid-19? Well, the picture of PM Narendra Modi is missing from the certificates issued by the health ministry in fresh downloads. And it’s not because of what you are thinking.

 

A social media user posted a copy of the CoWIN certificate on X, without the PM's picture and just the message: “Together, India will defeat COVID-19."  
“Modi ji no more visible on Covid Vaccine certificate. Just downloaded to check – yes, his pic is gone,” he posted.

 

However, as people speculated on social media that the recent development could have links to vaccine maker AstraZeneca’s admission in a UK filing that the antidote against Covid could lead to thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome in rare (read “rare”) instances, a few other netizens shed light on the matter, saying it was because of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) which has been enforced for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

In fact, according to a news website, the ECI had directed during state elections earlier that PM Modi's photograph be removed from Covid vaccine certificates because of MCC.