TN orders 1.5 cr doses; many face hurdles in registration

Amid reports of shortage of COVID vaccine and opening of CoWin registration for inoculating those aged between 18 and 44, the State government on Wednesday announced that it placed orders for 1.5 crore doses of vaccines.

“In the first phase, 1.5 crore doses of vaccines have been ordered through Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC). This will help meet the vaccination policy of the Centre to vaccinate people above 18,” the GO stated. Tamil Nadu has so far administered 55.51 lakh vaccines.

Meanwhile, minutes after the process of registration for vaccination of people between 18 and 44 commenced, the CoWin portal crashed for users in TN too with several having to wait for a while before registering in the app. Many complained that they did not receive the OTP while others alleged that they could not upload their Aadhaar details. “I tried several times before shutting down the app. I was waiting for the OTP and only later I learnt that the site crashed and was not responding”, said G Mouriya, a Civil Engineer in Chennai. With several facing issues, the hashtag “Waiting for OTP” trended on Twitter. Some of the other issues encountered included no hospitals in users’ localities displaying option for vaccinations. “There were vaccine slots available only for people above 45,” said another city resident.

Besides, the confirmation message on registration did not have the venue, date and time of vaccination mentioned for users who could get themselves registered. There were also reports that there was no slot for vaccination till the end of July for people below 45.