The new feature will be effective from May 8 for citizens who have made an online booking for their vaccine slot. The code will be printed only in the appointment acknowledgement slip or sent in a confirmation SMS to the beneficiary. Before administering the dose, the vaccinator will be able to enter the code into the CoWIN system to correctly record the status.

The new system will minimise data entry errors and the subsequent inconvenience caused to the citizens, said the government. The feature has been introduced after people received text alerts claiming that they have received the vaccine, while they were actually not present for their scheduled vaccination appointment.

"This will ensure that, for such citizens who have booked an online appointment, the data entries regarding vaccination status of a citizen, are recorded correctly and only for those who book online appointment and avail the services at the centre where they have booked the appointment," it added.

This will also reduce the opportunities of impersonation and wrongful use of flexibilities provided in CoWIN for facilitating vaccination coverage.

Beneficiaries have also been advised to carry the digital or physical copy of their appointment slip or the confirmation SMS so that the security code can be furnished easily.

The government on Friday said it has so far provided more than 17.35 crore vaccine doses to States and Union Territories free of cost. The total consumption, including wastage, is around 16.44 crore doses with more than 90 lakh still available to be administered. In addition, over 10 lakh doses will be received by the States within the next three days.