CoWin App: 1.3 Crore Indians Sign Up In 8 Hours, But No Vaccine Appointments

Yesterday, most of us were excited to get signed up on CoWin app for the COVID-19 vaccinations that were scheduled to commence on May 1 for people over the age of 18.

Reuters

However, this overwhelming response didn¡¯t sit quite well with the CoWin servers, with the app showing errors of every possible kind, and not allowing many to proceed with registration. Many didn¡¯t even get OTPs upon registering.

Also Read: CoWin App Crashes: Above 18 Users Report Server Error In Covid Vaccine Signup

People who did manage to get registered were surprised with another big blow -- they couldn¡¯t schedule a vaccine appointment due to lack of availability of vaccines and most listings were only restricted to people over the age of 45. Leaving all of us pretty disappointed.

And last night, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at National Health Authority, R.S. Sharma via a tweet shared that over 1.3 crore people registered for the vaccines in one day alone.

We close the day with 1.33 Crore Registrations on Co-Win and delivered 2.78 crore SMSes.

¡ª RS Sharma (@rssharma3) April 28, 2021

He said, ¡°We close the day with 1.33 Crore Registrations on Co-Win and delivered 2.78 crore SMSes.¡±

Also read: CoWin And Maps: How To Find COVID-19 Vaccination Centres Near You

BCCL

People waiting for the vaccines weren¡¯t so happy

While this surely is an impressive number, it still didn¡¯t really amount to anything -- people are still unlikely to be vaccinated on the day the government had stipulated and the entire experience was rather disappointing, to say the least. And that¡¯s what many in the comments stated too.

There are no slots available for booking 3 days in a row now for even 45+ age group. What are you going to do with just registrations. The vaccination drive is extremely badly planned

¡ª Vaishali (@RevaImageStudio) April 28, 2021

Some even experienced a hiccup-free registration process, only to come across the not-yet-ready vaccine schedule.

Registration process done smoothly, but the appointments are still not open for 18+ group. So, what's the point exactly? pic.twitter.com/8cBcg6v5Fg

¡ª ???? ???????? (@AakashBhardwaz) April 28, 2021

Also Read: India Has COVID-19 Vaccine On Its Mind, As 80 Lakh Register In 3 Hours

Whereas some were trying to break the tension of this situation with some humour.

I registered. I will get vaccine on May 1st or i have to wait till 45 to get my dose ? ?

¡ª Aditya Raj ? (@TheAdityaRaj) April 28, 2021

Not everyone was against the system though, several lauded the efforts despite the hiccups experienced in the first few hours of opening the registrations.

That is exactly what they are endeavoring to do. Data is for thankless people like you abt massive logistical and humanitarian exercise this will be. Today when developed nations like Germany, UK are struggling to vaccinate everyone, be proud of how far our nation has come.

¡ª Mohini (@mohini23451) April 28, 2021

Even here in USA, I had to register first and then based on availability at my local places they would send a link to accept place and date of the Jab. It takes time and people need to have patience. It¡¯s no small task for a population of 1.3 billion.

¡ª Lalit Jha ? (@jhalalit75) April 29, 2021

What did you think about the CoWin app registration process? Where you able to book a vaccination appointment between the age group of 18 to 44 year? Let us know in the comments below...