Over 1.2 crore register as the vaccination drive begins for above 18

NEW DELHI: As the registration for COVID-19 vaccination begun for the people aged above 18 on Wednesday, April 28, Co-Win platform recorded over 1.23 crore registrations. The enthusiastic response greeted the opening even though the scheduling of appointments is not yet possible and will begin from May 1. A senior official said that of all the registrations, 90 per cent of the users registered after 4 PM when the window opened for 18-plus beneficiaries.

Officials added that the exact number of new beneficiaries would be dynamic as it keeps changing, however, in the first three hours, the platform recorded almost 3 million hits per minute. Several states have indicated in the last few days that they might not be able to begin the vaccination from May 1 due to shortage of supplies.

The platform also experienced some initial glitches as the system was flooded with registrations and requests. Moreover, people had difficulty in receiving the OTPs and dropdown menus didn’t work for some time in the beginning. As of now, the jabs are available in private hospitals only for the 45-plus population till the end of this month. For the people between 18 and 44 years, online registration and booking of appointments is required for the inoculation. The Government of India also said earlier that for the people between 18 and 44 years, the appointment is based on the slots available by private vaccination centres.