Amid Covishield controversy, the Union health ministry has made notable change to the CoWIN certificates for Covid-19 vaccinations by removing the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Previously, these certificates prominently featured Modi's image along with a quote affirming India's collective resolve to conquer coronavirus. While the quote - "Together, India will defeat COVID-19" - remains attributed to the prime minister, his name has been omitted from the certificates, The Hindu reported.

Vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca's admission in a UK court, discussions on Covishield's potential association with Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a rare side effect involving blood clotting, have resurfaced. In India, many have examined their vaccination certificates in light of this development.

Some users on the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) noticed a significant change: the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph on the Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued in India. X user Sandeep Manudhane said, "Modi ji no more visible on COVID Vaccine certificates. Just downloaded to check - yes, his pic is gone."

Officials from the ministry of health and family welfare, however, told ThePrint on Tuesday that the image was removed from the vaccine certificate due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) being in place for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The opposition Congress has alleged that the BJP government at the Centre did not follow the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO), and demanded that the relatives of those who died due to heart attack or similar reasons after taking the Covishield vaccine against coronavirus should be paid compensation. Doctors associated with the Gujarat BJP, however, said a study by an expert panel in the state had established that there was no direct link between Covid-19 vaccines and blood clotting which can lead to heart attacks.

In India, AstraZeneca partnered with the Serum Institute of India (SII) to produce the vaccine. Gujarat Congress president and Rajya Sabha member Shaktisinh Gohil sought to know why data was not collected despite WHO's advisory.