As the registration for the third phase of the countrywide vaccination drive began at 4 pm today, CoWIN and Aarogya Setu apps crashed following a large number of users logging on to both the platforms.
Several users took to social media to complain that they were unable to access the apps. While for a few the registration portals did not respond, for many the apps crashed.
The development comes just days before the third phase of the countrywide vaccination drive is scheduled to commence from May 1, during which everyone above 18 years will be eligible to avail the Covid-19 vaccines. At the moment only adults above 45 years are eligible to take the vaccine.
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Responding to complaints of glitches, at 4.35 pm a tweet was posted on the official Twitter handle of the Aarogya Setu mobile application, stating that after a minor glitch the Co-Win portal was working fine.
"Cowin portal is working. There was a minor glitch at 4 pm that was fixed. 18 plus can register," it said.
At 4.54 pm, a tweet from the same handle stated: "Vaccination appointments for 18 plus will be possible once the state governments and private vaccination centres schedule vaccination sessions. Registration is happening on cowin.gov.in."
Registration for the newly-eligible category for Covid-19 vaccination is possible through the CoWIN platform and the Aarogya Setu app.
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After registration, taking an appointment to get a Covid-19 vaccine jab would be mandatory for those aged between 18 and 44 years as walk-ins will not be allowed initially, officials had said.
Those above 45 years of age can still avail the facility of on-site registration to get vaccinated, they had said.
As India witnesses a surge in coronavirus cases, it has decided to allow all citizens above 18 years of age to get vaccinated from May 1.
"An increased demand is expected once the vaccination is opened for all. For the purpose of crowd control, registering on the CoWIN portal and making an appointment to get a vaccine will be mandatory for those aged between 18 and 45 years. Walks-in will not be allowed in the beginning so that there is no chaos," an official had said.
The inoculation process and the documents to be provided to get the jab remain the same.
"Registration of citizens in 18-44 age group will start with only online registration on CoWIN from April 28 onwards," the health ministry had said.
Also, from May 1, the types of anti-coronavirus vaccines and their prices will be displayed on the CoWIN portal for the citizens to make an informed choice at the time of booking an appointment at a private vaccination centre.
While those aged 18 to 44 years will be eligible to receive vaccination on payment from any of the private COVID vaccination centres (CVCs), they shall also be eligible to receive a jab from a government CVC in a state or a Union Territory that decides to lower the minimum cut-off age for eligibility.
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As provided in the Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy document, all priority groups such as healthcare workers, frontline workers and citizens aged 45 years and above shall continue to be eligible for vaccination for free from government CVCs and on payment from private CVCS.
(With PTI inputs)
