Modi photo missing from Covid vaccine certificates due to model code, say health ministry officials

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo was also removed from Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued in 5 poll-bound states in 2022 at EC's directions.

Screenshot of Modi's photo missing from Covid-19 vaccination certificate | X@sandeep_PT

New Delhi: Since vaccine maker AstraZeneca’s admission in a UK court revived the discussion about Covishield’s potential to cause Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a rare side effect associated with blood clotting, many in India have been downloading and rifling through their vaccination certificates.

While doing so, some took to microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) to point out that Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued in India no longer carry a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Modi ji no more visible on COVID Vaccine certificates. Just downloaded to check – yes, his pic is gone,” wrote X user Sandeep Manudhane.

“Yes, I just checked and PM Modi’s photo has disappeared and there is only QR code instead of his photo,” wrote Irfan Ali, another user who identified himself as a Congress functionary.

Many users on X also speculated that the change in the vaccination certificate was spurred by the latest admission over Covishield, which was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca.

However, asked about the disappearance of Modi’s picture from vaccination certificates, officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told ThePrint Tuesday that this was due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) being in place for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

This is not the first time Modi’s photo was removed from vaccination certificates.

In 2022, Modi’s photo was removed from vaccination certificates issued in five states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, and Goa, at the direction of the Election Commission of India (ECI) ahead of assembly elections in those states.

In 2021, Modi’s picture on vaccination certificates had sparked a controversy that reached the Kerala High Court which in turn asked what was wrong with it since Modi was elected.

Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan had then remarked in response to the contention that certificates issued in other countries did not carry the photos of elected leaders, “They may not be proud of their PMs, we are proud of our PM.”