CoWIN is key to the country’s nationwide vaccination drive against Covid-19. The platform not only facilitates registration and appointment for inoculation but also the beneficiary’s certificate of vaccination.
Availability of slots on CoWIN is based on the vaccination schedule published by either the District Immunization Officer (DIO) or the Session site in charge. Both depend on the availability of vaccines, said the health ministry.
Advising states/UTs to publish vaccination slots based on the availability of doses, the ministry said preference should be given to beneficiaries with online appointments.
‘Vaccination sessions can now be rescheduled’
Referring to incidents of appointments being cancelled, the ministry said this was because of DIOs cancelling sessions owing to shortage of Covid-19 vaccines.
“This definitely caused inconvenience to such beneficiaries who booked their appointments for such vaccination centres/ sessions,” said the health ministry.
It went on to add that a feature has now been made available on CoWIN allowing DIOs to reschedule vaccination sessions instead of cancelling them in case of shortages.
Beneficiaries will receive an SMS informing them about the rescheduling of their vaccination session, said the ministry.
The health ministry also said that an advisory has been issued to ensure that vaccination certificates are handed out to all beneficiaries on the same day as the inoculation. The generation of Covid-19 vaccination certificate is linked to the updation of status by the vaccinator on-site, it added.
