After initial glitches, over 80L apply for vax from May 1
Appointments will be based on slots available by states, pvt centres
More than 80 lakh people applied for vaccination in three hours as the government website CoWIN opened for registrations on Wednesday. In the third phase of the inoculation drive, those between 18 and 44 can get COVID shots from May 1.
However, minutes after registration commenced at 4 pm, many people took to social media to complain about the technical problems they faced trying to register themselves. Some complained that the portal was not responding while others complained that it had crashed. At 4.35 pm, a tweet from the verified Twitter handle of the Aarogya Setu mobile application said the CoWIN portal is working and that there was a minor glitch at 4 pm, which was fixed. “Cowin portal is working. There was a minor glitch at 4 pm that was fixed. 18 plus can register,” it said.
At 4.54 pm, a tweet from the same handle stated, “Vaccination appointments for 18 plus will be possible once the state governments and private vaccination centres schedule vaccination sessions. Registration is happening on cowin.gov. in.” “An increased demand is expected once the vaccination is opened for all. For the purpose of crowd control, registering on the CoWIN portal and making an appointment to get a vaccine will be mandatory for those aged between 18 and 45 years. Walks-in will not be allowed in the beginning so that there is no chaos,” an official had said. “More appointment slots will soon be offered. If slots are not currently available, please check again after sometime. We request your patience and understanding,” said government sources. The inoculation process and the documents to be provided to get the jab remain the same.
The Union Health Ministry, however, clarified that the media reports that the server has crashed “are incorrect and are without any basis”.
“The server supporting the CoWin digital portal continues to work smoothly at its highest efficiency. People are registering on the platform, mostly of age-group 18-44. It witnessed more than 80 lakh people registered themselves on the portal, with 3 hours from 4 to 7 pm,” it said.