{"id":245021,"date":"2021-05-07T13:49:36","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T10:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/indias-vaccination-program-has-turned-into-a-rat-race-online\/"},"modified":"2021-05-07T13:49:36","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T10:49:36","slug":"indias-vaccination-program-has-turned-into-a-rat-race-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/indias-vaccination-program-has-turned-into-a-rat-race-online\/","title":{"rendered":"#India\u2019s vaccination program has turned into a rat race online"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a424b0cb28ac\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a424b0cb28ac\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/indias-vaccination-program-has-turned-into-a-rat-race-online\/#Bots_at_work\" >Bots at work<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/indias-vaccination-program-has-turned-into-a-rat-race-online\/#Hack_your_way_in\" >Hack your way in<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/indias-vaccination-program-has-turned-into-a-rat-race-online\/#CoWin_bugs\" >CoWin bugs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/indias-vaccination-program-has-turned-into-a-rat-race-online\/#The_digital_divide\" >The digital divide<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#India\u2019s vaccination program has turned into a rat race online<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>India opened up its vaccination program for the 18-45 age\u00a0group\u00a0on May 1. To get the vaccine, people in this age bracket have to go through a two-stage process. First, register on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cowin.gov.in\/\">the government-run CoWin portal<\/a>. And second, book a slot in their area to get their first shot.<\/p>\n<p>While the first part is easy, finding a slot is proving to be a nightmare for people across the country. When the central government announced the expansion of the program in April, it mentioned that vaccine manufacturers in India \u2014 currently only two of them \u2014 have to supply 50% of their monthly production to the central government and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1712710\">the remaining 50% could be given to states and private hospitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-featured_img wp-image-1350012 js-lazy\" alt=\"\" width=\"796\" height=\"281\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-796x281.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-796x281.png 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-280x99.png 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-540x190.png 540w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-270x95.png 270w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM.png 1433w\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fin%2F2021%2F05%2F07%2Findia-vaccination-online-cowin-equality%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: India\u2019s CoWin Portal for vaccination\" data-title=\"Share India\u2019s CoWin Portal for vaccination on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share India\u2019s CoWin Portal for vaccination on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>India\u2019s CoWin Portal for vaccination<\/figcaption><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-featured_img wp-image-1350012\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-796x281.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"796\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-796x281.png 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-280x99.png 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-540x190.png 540w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM-270x95.png 270w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-07-at-2.59.26-PM.png 1433w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>Notably, vaccination for the 18-45 age group could only be done through doses supplied to states and private hospitals. Just before the vaccination program was about to go live, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tribuneindia.com\/news\/nation\/andhra-pradesh-says-no-vaccine-for-under-45-till-september-246358\">several<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsminute.com\/article\/vaccination-those-aged-18-45-years-karnataka-will-not-start-may-1-148069\">states<\/a> noted that they didn\u2019t have the necessary doses to start the vaccination\u00a0rollout at full throttle.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these challenges, vaccination for people older than 18 started on May 1. But because of the digital nature of bookings and limited slots, it has become a race of frantically looking at the internet all day to find slots and using tools to get a reservation. And if you\u2019re not a hyperactive internet user, good luck finding a slot.<\/p>\n<p>In this story, we\u2019ll take a look at various ways people are scrambling to get vaccination booking.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bots_at_work\"><\/span>Bots at work<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>After registration for the 18-45 age group opened on April 28, slots in select cities began to show up the next day. However, there was no easy way to search for it at that time (the CoWin site now has an age filter). So, programmer Berty Thomas made a tool to check open slots for the specified age group for your district. Later, he introduced Telegram alerts for some cities too.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1349075 js-lazy\" alt=\"\" width=\"597\" height=\"698\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 597px) 100vw, 597px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM.png 597w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM-180x210.png 180w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM-231x270.png 231w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM-115x135.png 115w\"\/><figcaption>Credit: Under45.in<\/figcaption><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fin%2F2021%2F05%2F07%2Findia-vaccination-online-cowin-equality%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Under45.in search for open vaccination slots for 18-45 age group\" data-title=\"Share Under45.in search for open vaccination slots for 18-45 age group on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Under45.in search for open vaccination slots for 18-45 age group on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Under45.in search for open vaccination slots for 18-45 age group<\/figcaption><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1349075\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"597\" height=\"698\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM.png 597w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM-180x210.png 180w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM-231x270.png 231w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/04\/Screenshot-2021-04-30-at-1.15.38-PM-115x135.png 115w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>While states have started the vaccination rollout for anyone over 18 years of age, there are only a limited number of centers and slots available per day. And whenever slots open up, they get booked within seconds. So more people like Thomas <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.labnol.org\/covid19-vaccine-tracker-210501\">made<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/getjab.in\/\">tools<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smarttask.io\/vaccine\">for<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cowin-alerts.pixeldust.app\/\">themselves<\/a>, and later opened them up for everyone\u2019s consumption.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few city-specific <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DelhiUpdater\">Twitter<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BloreVaccine\">bots<\/a> that continuously tweet slots that open up in various areas. People based out of Delhi and Bengaluru told me that they enabled notifications for these accounts and that helped them get their vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>All these bots on Telegram and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> are useful if you\u2019re hyperactive on the internet and can log in to the CoWin portal within seconds and book a slot. However, several people told me that despite getting an alert and logging on to the CoWin portal quickly, they found that the slots were already booked.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ufffcSign up for Twitter and\/or Telegram alerts that notify you when slots open up for booking on the Cowin web portal\/Aarogya Setu <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>. As soon as you get an alert, log in. You have to be\u26a1\ufe0fquick, there\u2019s no way around it. What worked for me?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Geetanjali Chitnis (@geetanjalic) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/geetanjalic\/status\/1389460747663548416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 4, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Mumbai-based\u00a0<span>Peter Kotikalapudi subscribed to these groups, but hasn\u2019t had any success yet. \u201cI\u2019m really angry &amp; frustrated now with this whole process,\u201d he said. Several other users I talked to echoed similar disappointments of not getting a booking despite subscribing to a few vaccine notification services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>However, a lot of these bots might be ineffective soon as CoWin\u2019s API portal specified on May\u00a0 5 that its public API\u00a0shows cached data for slots that might be 30 minutes old. That might be too old when slots are getting reserved in seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Sandip Baradiya, a startup co-founder, who built <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.labnol.org\/covid19-vaccine-tracker-210501\">a tool for alerts<\/a>, said that while his site helped some people find slots, this new limit might change its effectiveness.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hack_your_way_in\"><\/span>Hack your way in<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While these\u00a0bots could help you know about available slots on the CoWin site, you have to still log in and book one. A few clever programmers found a way around that to automate the whole system and get a reservation for themselves and their families.<\/p>\n<p>RS Sharma, CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), which handles the CoWin portal, recently said in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/video\/news\/reality-check\/cowin-portal-is-fine-gap-in-demand-and-supply-dr-rs-sharma-to-ndtv-585200\">an interview with NDTV<\/a> that it\u2019s impossible to automate the reservation as you need to login through an\u00a0<span>OTP (One Time Password) to access bookings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"c-mrkdwn__br\" data-stringify-type=\"paragraph-break\"\/><span>I talked to more than three developers who told me that it\u2019s possible to program bots for booking. Here\u2019s how it roughly works: simulate a browser to start the login process and enter your phone number, read the OTP<\/span> delivered by the site through Google Messages API, and once you\u2019ve successfully logged in, you can use the private APIs to look for slots and book an appointment.<\/p>\n<p>There are several repositories on GitHub right now that are designed to complete this task. Alternatively, some other scripts work\u00a0<span>after logging in with OTPs manually.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Sharma, who threw <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rssharma3\/status\/1390277054596194308?s=20\">an open challenge<\/a> to engineers on Twitter yesterday, was far from convinced about automation despite several people explaining the methods of execution for the code. A developer told me that they were ready to show the demo to the authorities, but feared that they\u2019ll face retaliation from them instead of fixing the system.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve written to NHA for comments, and we\u2019ll update the story if we hear anything.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"CoWin_bugs\"><\/span>CoWin bugs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Even if you get through all the hoops, CoWin portal itself has a ton of issues. The portal is issuing <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mahesh_mutkule\/status\/1386658780729942023?s=20\">vaccination certificates<\/a>\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dewangmodi\/status\/1389964277214171138?s=20\">to people<\/a> who didn\u2019t get a slot. This is harmful, as they\u2019re not yet protected against COVID-19 and the system shows that they\u2019ll be eligible for another slot in four-six weeks. To avoid this, the authorities are <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/news\/india\/cowin-to-introduce-a-new-feature-of-4-digit-security-code-from-tomorrow-11620367635295.html\">planning to introduce a 4-digit pin<\/a> that you have to give at the vaccination center to verify your booking.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I DID NOT GET ANY VACCINE AT THE CENTER! I AM NOT VACCINATED!<br \/>I went to 3 centers, including the one where I got the appointment. Still did not get any vaccine. BUT I was still sent a CERTIFICATE for vaccination! And now I can&#8217;t reschedule or book for my first dose <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CowinApp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CowinApp<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mMDsNWR1oL\">pic.twitter.com\/mMDsNWR1oL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 IamWhoIam (@shrutinair1) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shrutinair1\/status\/1389865949885472769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Plus, as Medianama noted in its report last week, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.medianama.com\/2021\/05\/223-ghost-registrations-on-cowin-flummox-users\/\">people are finding slots booked against their number<\/a> when they didn\u2019t reserve one.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Some thing similar happened on the Arogya Setu app. My dad has not scheduled for second dose, he was going to, but the app blocked the option saying &#8220;already scheduled&#8221; but not providing details of vaccination centre  date time. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uey4my4nM4\">pic.twitter.com\/uey4my4nM4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sanjukta Basu (@sanjukta) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sanjukta\/status\/1390208795909922817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Also, if you\u2019re rescheduling your slot for another time and center that has a different vaccine, your certificate <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/cowinapi\/developer.cowin\/issues\/38\">might show the vaccine booked for the original appointment<\/a> \u2014 that could become a hindrance in getting your second shot. The NHA and developers of the portal need to weed out these anomalies to ensure there are no hiccups in the vaccination process.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_digital_divide\"><\/span>The digital divide<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>India has more than <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gadgets.ndtv.com\/mobiles\/news\/over-500-million-indians-now-use-smartphones-77-percent-of-who-are-online-techarc-2172219\">500 million smartphone users<\/a> and more than <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/industry\/media\/india-s-active-internet-user-base-to-hit-639-mn-by-year-end-11588879564767.html\">600 million internet users<\/a>. With India\u2019s estimated population of more than 1.3 billion, a large chunk of people are not exposed to the internet and they can\u2019t access the CoWin portal. Currently, only people aged more than 45 can walk into a vaccination center and get a shot.<\/p>\n<p>That means almost 600 million 18-45 year olds have to rely on a portal with only hundreds of slots opening every day. There\u2019s such a rush to get vaccines, in the western state of Gujarat, people are <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ing to centers more than 100km away to get a vaccine. Many people are also turning up at the centers thinking that registering on CoWin is enough to get a vaccine; they\u2019re unaware that you need to book a slot also to get a shot.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">How bad is the vaccine rush? In Gujarat, people are booking slots and driving down to a center which is at least 100km away from their hometown. <\/p>\n<p>(Source: Kutchmitra) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yr8PJTrOd2\">pic.twitter.com\/yr8PJTrOd2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ivan Mehta (@IndianIdle) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IndianIdle\/status\/1390138859980087300?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While internet-savvy people are already feeling the anxiety of trying to book an appointment every day, many folks in rural areas are unaware of how the process works.<\/p>\n<p>Back in my hometown, Bhuj, a small place in western India, my neighbor asked me, \u201cHow do I know when slots open up? I don\u2019t use Twitter or any fancy apps.\u201d Many such people who are unaware of these digital tools have given up hope and are ready to wait it out till walk-ins are allowed.<\/p>\n<p>For more than two weeks now, the country has registered more than 300,000 daily COVID-19 cases. Hospitals are packed, there\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/05\/06\/india-covid-crisis-cases-fatalities-rise-as-oxygen-shortage-persists.html\">a lack of oxygen supplies and medicines<\/a>, and amid all this vaccination seems the only hope to get out of this dangerous surge. The central government has just placed an order for vaccination <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/news\/india\/govt-says-have-orders-for-over-160-million-covid-19-vaccine-doses-till-july-11620036834963.html\">a week ago<\/a>, and states are yet to get their quota.<\/p>\n<p>While having enough vaccines is a logistical and manufacturing topic, how they\u2019re distributed is currently a digital issue.<\/p>\n<p>Srinath Reddy,\u00a0<span>the president of the Public Health Foundation of India, a health-focused non-profit, said, \u201cThe people shouldn\u2019t have to come to the government, and the government should go to the people. Having vaccine registration on the digital platform alone wouldn\u2019t work. Authorities need to partner with volunteers to survey rural areas and figure out the needs of the marginalized community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Currently, the vaccination system for 18- to 45-year old is heavily favored towards privileged people with internet connectivity and access to special tools. India needs to make this system more just so there\u2019s equal distribution of these lifesaving meds across all classes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/india-vaccination-online-cowin-equality\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#India\u2019s vaccination program has turned into a rat race online&#8221; India opened up its vaccination program for the 18-45 age\u00a0group\u00a0on May 1. To get the vaccine, people in this age bracket have to go through a two-stage process. First, register on the government-run CoWin portal. And second, book a slot in their area to get&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/ivan-diaz-_ts3NfjvaXo-unsplash-e1620019774126.jpg&signature=66b69f4ebd29ff146213b74ec9efb7a5","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}