CoWin, India’s COVID-19 vaccination app to go global: All you need to know

New Delhi, July 05: Co-WIN, a digital platform/ app that monitors real-time COVID-19 vaccine, has played a critical role in the government's anti-coronavirus immunisation drive.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to share his thoughts about the digital platform during the CoWIN Global Conclave, scheduled at 3 pm. More than 50 countries such as Mexico, Iraq, Vietnam, Peru, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Ukraine, and Uganda have shown interest in learning about the Co-WIN technology to run their own Covid vaccination programmes.

As CoWIN set to go global, here's a look at what all can be done through Co-WIN

What is CoWIN?

Co-WIN, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the first phase of the world's largest vaccination drive, has become a buzzword in the country.

Co-WIN, is an upgraded version of the government's Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) for strategising, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating Covid-19 vaccination across the country.
The application has been built to be a cloud-based IT solution for planning in India. It not only helps the government coordinate the massive inoculation process; but helps us in getting real-time data on vaccine drive.

CoWIN lets you book slots

CoWIN, the technological backbone of drive in India, allows beneficiaries to book their vaccination slots by registering with their mobile number. All adults can now walk out to get vaccinated as prior registration on Cowin.gov.in is no longer necessary, but one must mandatorily register themselves on the site before getting their vaccine.

You can search in Co-WIN portal for the vaccination centre nearest to your location by either searching through PIN code or by choosing the State and the District.

Vaccination Certificate

Through Co-Win, one can download the vaccination certificate from their registered account as soon as they get the vaccine shot. Vaccination certificate is a verifiable proof of vaccination that you can use to establish that have been vaccinated in cases where any such requirement is specified.

Editing certificate

A new update on CoWIN enables an applicant to correct any errors in name, year of birth and gender printed on the vaccination certificate. The CoWIN vaccination certificates, used at the time of travel makes it hassle free.

CoWIN allows you link your Passport with your Vaccine certificate

CoWin portal enables users to link their vaccination certificates to passports for use during travel. In case there is a mismatch of details between the vaccine certificate and passport, one can also edit the details.

Merge certificates

The COVID-19 vaccine beneficiaries, who got doses by enrolling from two different phone numbers and received two different certificates can now merge the two certificates through the CoWIN portal.

Beneficiaries can log in on CoWin with their registered cellphone number, click on "Raise an issue" option, select "Merge multiple first dose provisional certificates" and follow the listed steps to get the final vaccination certificate.

For a country showing growing affinity for digital technologies, CoWIN serves as the necessary technological backbone to overcome information asymmetry and ensure equitable vaccination access for all.

However, CoWIN India's backbone in vaccinating millions of people has also met with criticism.

CoWIN hack

Last month, speculations were life claiming that a hackers' group had accessed the database of about 150 million users registered on CoWin and that the data was up for sale. However, the government termed it as "incorrect" and "baseless".

"We state this with absolute certainty that no breaches have been found till date. No scripts can bypass the OTP verification and CAPTCHA to automatically register an individual," the government said.

Cowin Digital divide

Mandatory registration on Cowin portal has been a worry for many, especially in rural areas. The Supreme court had even posed serious questions to the Centre on the COVID-19 vaccine procurement policy and need for mandatory registration on the CoWIN app for people to get vaccinated.

"You keep on saying digital India, digital India but the situation is actually different in rural areas. How will an illiterate labourer, from Jharkhand get registered in Rajasthan? Tell us how you will address this digital divide," the court had said.

However, the centre had clarified saying that registration is mandatory as a person needs to be traced for a second dose and as far as rural areas there are community centres where a person can get registered for vaccination.