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PUNE: Chaos prevailed as online booking on the CoWIN portal showed availability of Covishield, along with Covaxin, for the 15-18 years age group for a few hours on Monday, the first day when the mass vaccination of the category against Covid began across the country.
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is currently the only vaccine that has been included in the country’s vaccination programme for those aged 15 to 18 years.
“The issue prevailed temporarily for an hour or two following the update of the CoWIN portal, as many scrambled to book the online slots. This led to some initial chaos and confusion at some centres on Monday. However, the glitch was resolved soon over the later part of the day,” Maharashtra immunisation officer Sachin Desai said.
The glitch became evident soon after the online booking was made open for the public. “When people saw an online booking for Covishield, they booked the slot in a hurry and turned up to take the shot at the centres on Monday. They were told to book the slot again for Covaxin, as the problem was resolved immediately. Some of them who had inadvertently booked the slot for Covishield were given the Covaxin shot on the spot,” said Pune Municipal Corporation’s chief immunisation officer Suryakant Devkar.
An official of the Union health ministry said, “The glitch stemmed from CoWIN’s update process and was immediately taken care of.” On December 27, the Centre had said beneficiaries aged between 15 and 18 years could self-register for vaccination through an existing account on CoWIN. They can also create a new account through a unique mobile number. People in this age group can also be registered on-site by the verifier or person administering the vaccine. They can book appointments online as well as at the vaccination centres.
Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has advised states and Union Territories to provide separate vaccination centres, session sites, queues and different inoculation teams for the 15-18 years age group to avoid mixing up of vaccines.
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is currently the only vaccine that has been included in the country’s vaccination programme for those aged 15 to 18 years.
“The issue prevailed temporarily for an hour or two following the update of the CoWIN portal, as many scrambled to book the online slots. This led to some initial chaos and confusion at some centres on Monday. However, the glitch was resolved soon over the later part of the day,” Maharashtra immunisation officer Sachin Desai said.
The glitch became evident soon after the online booking was made open for the public. “When people saw an online booking for Covishield, they booked the slot in a hurry and turned up to take the shot at the centres on Monday. They were told to book the slot again for Covaxin, as the problem was resolved immediately. Some of them who had inadvertently booked the slot for Covishield were given the Covaxin shot on the spot,” said Pune Municipal Corporation’s chief immunisation officer Suryakant Devkar.
An official of the Union health ministry said, “The glitch stemmed from CoWIN’s update process and was immediately taken care of.” On December 27, the Centre had said beneficiaries aged between 15 and 18 years could self-register for vaccination through an existing account on CoWIN. They can also create a new account through a unique mobile number. People in this age group can also be registered on-site by the verifier or person administering the vaccine. They can book appointments online as well as at the vaccination centres.
Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has advised states and Union Territories to provide separate vaccination centres, session sites, queues and different inoculation teams for the 15-18 years age group to avoid mixing up of vaccines.
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