Drug Authority of India is calling senior citizens to collect their personal information for the COVID-19 vaccine allocation.

The phone calls seeking personal details to allocate COVID-19 vaccines are scams as India's Drug Authority makes no such calls for vaccine allocation.

The phone calls seeking personal details to allocate COVID-19 vaccines are scams as India's Drug Authority makes no such calls for vaccine allocation.On Jan. 16, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India's COVID vaccination program, targeting 300 million priority groups, including frontline and healthcare workers, in the first phase, marking the beginning of an attempt to immunize more than 1.3 billion people.

The next group to receive the COVID-19 vaccine will be people above 50 years and under 50 years of age with comorbid conditions because of high mortality in this category. Later the vaccines will be available to the masses.

Some senior citizens are getting calls in the name of the Drug Authority of India. They are being told that the vaccine has been allocated to them. The health department is making no phone calls for the allocation of COVID-19 vaccines. There is no data available on the no such details being sought by India's Drug Authority; these are scam calls. These fraudsters are asking for personal information such as Aadhaar, bank account details, and OTPs. There is no need to provide details to anyone in the name of vaccine allocation.

The vaccination against COVID-19 is not mandatory but voluntary. To get vaccinated, people will have to register on the Co-WIN app. Co-Win is a COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network developed to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate COVID vaccination in India. The eligible recipients will be informed through their registered mobile number about where the vaccination will be provided and the scheduled time. The self-registration module of CowinApp has not been released yet.

In a tweet, the Ministry of Health states that people need a photo ID verified at the vaccination site for their registration. It is obligatory to carry the same ID at the vaccination site to get the vaccine.

There is no need to give personal details to anyone in the name of vaccination allocation during the phone calls. The health department seeks no such information, and people could become cybercrime victims.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.