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India opened the vaccination drive for everyone aged 18 or above on May 1. However, with a limited vaccine supply, people are confused about how to get a slot and find the nearest vaccine centre in real-time.

While the Indian government’s website CoWIN shows vaccination centres based on pin codes and district wise, people are not able to find their nearest COVID Vaccination Centres.

For people looking for their nearest CVCs, various resources are available on the Internet, WhatsApp, and other social media channels. Here are some of the ways you can find the nearest vaccine centre.

Find on WhatsApp

The government has partnered with WhatsApp to create a simple bot-based tool. Last year, a WhatsApp bot was launched along with MyGov — a digital portal to get information about government services and information related to coronavirus pandemic.

At present, the same bot can be used to find out information about vaccines and CVCs. All one has to do is, text “Namaste” or “Hi” to 9013151515 on WhatsApp, or use this link to launch the chatbot. Once the bot responds with the menu, send 1, which is the key for finding info about COVID vaccination centres and authentic info about vaccines.

You can send 1 again to find the details of the centre. On typing the six-digit pin code of the area, the bot will respond with the nearest centres, along with slots available and the age limit applicable for that centre. Once you find the info about the vaccination centre, you can log in to the CoWin website to book your slot to get the vaccine dose. 

Finder tool on Facebook

Facebook, in partnership with the Indian government, has rolled out a vaccine finder tool on its mobile app in India. The Vaccine Finder tool on the Facebook India mobile app is available in 17 languages to help people identify places nearby to get the vaccine. The vaccine finder tool shows walk-in options (for people above 45 years of age) and a link to register on the CoWin website and schedule vaccination appointments as well. Users can also access the tool in the COVID-19 Information Centre.

Email alert

Founder of Labnol.org and developer Amit Agarwal has built an open-source vaccine tracker that monitors the nearby vaccine appointment availability. Once slots are available it sends the users email alerts.

All one has to do is click on the Google Sheet here, and ‘Make a Copy’ of it in your Google Drive, select vaccine tracker in the menu.

Tap on the ‘Enable’ option, complete the sign-in process, select ‘Go to Vaccine Alerts’, enter your details, and select the ‘Create Email Alert’ button. The Google Sheet will run this monitor every day and send an email at 8 am daily, showing vaccine slots available as per the area. You can go to the CoWin app or website and book your appointment.

Getjab

ISB alumni Shyam Sunder, along with his friends, has developed a platform, getjab.in, to help users get alerts when COVID vaccination slots are available nearby. It sends email notifications to everyone who signs up for notifications. To sign up for these alerts, you need to enter your name, district, and email ID. Once done, you will get an email alert once a slot is available near you.