How Mumbai plays roulette with vaccines

Every night at about 8pm the residents of Mumbai huddle around their phones and laptops. They are trying to book coveted vaccine appointments as doses run dry.

The daily drama has led to jokes and memes in the lockeddown city, which seems to have controlled a devastating wave of the coronavirus and is now desperate to protect its citizens from further infection.

Here is how it plays out. First step, wait for the municipality to throw open registrations, which depends on how many vaccine doses local authorities manage to procure.

Next, log in to the government-run website and hit “search by pin code” until you find a centre that has secured doses and will be open. Book a slot before others do. Savvier ones turn to external apps to help game the system.

The fastest-finger-first approach has led folks to compare playing the portal — named Co-Win — with the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, or Kaun Banega Crorepati.

The shortage of vaccines became acute after Prime Minister Narendra Modi — initially under pressure for controlling the allocation of doses among states — abruptly opened up the programme and asked provinces to purchase their own share. He also simultaneously allowed everyone above 18 years of age to be injected, compared with people over the age of 45 when the federal government had been procuring the vaccines.

The rush for doses created a bottleneck, with Indian manufacturers unable to meet demand and import orders not yet realised. At the current pace it will take a projected 2.8 years to cover 75% of India’s population with a two-dose vaccine.

Facing flak for the registration process, the government of Maharashtra, which houses Mumbai, has urged Modi’s administration to allow states to develop their own apps for the vaccination programme. Until then, though, its youth are left scrambling to win a slot on the daily vaccine lottery app.