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The Union Health Ministry said on Friday announced that CoWIN has launched a new API known as ‘Know Your Customer’s/Client’s Vaccination Status’( KYC-VS), which will enable a verifying entity to know whether a person has been vaccinated against coronavirus or not.
At present, CoWIN is issuing a digitally verifiable certificate which can be saved on a digital device (smartphone, tablet, laptop etc.) or stored in Digi Locker. It can be digitally shared as and when required as a proof of vaccination. Similarly, at entry points where such certificate is required (malls, office complex, public events etc.) it may be shown in both digital and physical forms.
To help organisations and other entities which do not need to see the certificate in full and would just need to know if an individual has been vaccinated or not, the CoWIN API can prove beneficial. The new facility will help an enterprise/employer may like to know the vaccination status of its employees to resume functions in offices, workplaces etc.
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It can also help the Indian Railways to get the status of vaccination of the passengers who are getting their seats reserved in the trains. Similarly, it can also be used by Airlines to get the status of vaccination of the passengers who are booking their flight tickets, and/or airports may only want to allow vaccinated passengers to pass through.
To use this API, an individual needs to enter his/her mobile number and name. Thereafter, they will get an OTP which they have to enter.
In return, Co-WIN will send a response to the verifying entity on the individual’s status of vaccination, which will be as follows –
0- Person is not vaccinated
1 - Person is partially vaccinated
2 - Person is fully vaccinated
This response will be digitally signed and can be shared instantly with the verifying entity. A real-life example could be when at the time of booking a railway ticket, an individual will input the necessary details for buying the ticket and if required, the concerned entity will also get the vaccination status in the same transaction, with the due consent of the individual, a PIB release stated.
KYC-VS will facilitate all such use cases and more. It is both consent-based and privacy preserving. Additionally, in order to facilitate quick integration and faster adoption, the Co-WIN Team has prepared a webpage with the API, which may be embedded in any system. This will allow seamless integration with any system in no time, the release added.
