COWIN APP SET FOR REVAMP AS PVT HOSPITALS, STATES ALLOWED TO BUY VACCINES

The COWIN mobile application is set for a revamp as the government allows private hospitals and state governments to directly procure vaccines, and makes people above the age of 18 eligible for the jab, officials familiar with the matter said, asserting that certificates will continue to be issued by the central government to ensure that a database is maintained.

“A consolidated database of how many people have so far been vaccinated has to be maintained,” said an official familiar with the matter. “The Centre will be the only authority issuing the vaccination certificates.”

According to government data, so far, 60,599 government vaccination sites and 6,549 private vaccination sites are integrated with the COWIN app. Once the new system is rolled out, more hospitals will be integrated with the app to provide citizens easy access to availability of vaccines. “The government is also trying to provide data with reference to availability of remdesivir and oxygen on the application. The number of vaccination sites is expected to rise with the change in policy.”

A second person said that switching the age of registration from 45 to 18 would be easy in a technical sense, but the more onerous task would be integrating the APIS of COWIN with the hospitals. “A hospital can choose whether to use the COWIN app for registration or have a separate process, the idea is to ensure that a majority is onboarded to maintain a central database,” the second official said.

60,599 GOVT VACCINATION SITES AND 6,549 PRIVATE SITES ARE INTEGRATED WITH THE APP, GOVT DATA SHOWS