The beginning of May was marked by the rolling out of the vaccination drive for the biggest chunk of our population, i.e. age group 18-44 years. According to the report of the government’s Technical Group on Population Projections, the total number of individuals in this bracket was expected to be 594.6 million that is roughly 42% of the entire population of the nation. Thus with such a massive roll-out came massive problems – there was a lack of vaccines concomitant panic amidst the masses regarding booking a vaccination slot and what not. Booking a slot thus became like a game of fastest finger first wherein the slots opened up at a random time and got filled within seconds, giving the privilege of getting vaccinated to only a certain few. Various organizations and individuals came forward with various approaches to make the process more efficient and hassle-free for the citizen.
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Amidst all these initiatives was a remarkably striking one by Suchdeep Juneja, a software developer based in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Belonging from one of the worst-hit regions of the nation, booking a vaccination slot was a mammoth task, with people facing more remorse than a stroke of luck. After several failed attempts and the mental toll the whole process took, he was ready to give up until he devised a code to automate the process of tracking and filtering the data to get precise and accurate information about slots availability. He used the Co-WIN Application Programming Interface (API) to develop a script that gave him info on the available slots on the portal. He was able to successfully book a slot for himself using this. This motivated him and his associate Likhit Agrawal, a software developer based out of Nagpur, Maharashtra, to extend their help and ease out the process of various others who were bearing the brunt of the grave situation.
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The very next day, the mhVaccineTracker was introduced on Telegram. The tracker works by sending timely vaccine availability updates through more than 70 Telegram channels bifurcated as per districts and age groups for all the 35 districts of Maharashtra. As soon as the slot becomes available, a notification is sent on the Telegram channel. It contains details such as the pin code, name of the vaccination centres, date, available dose, name of the vaccine and the amount. Till date, what started as a personal project is now notifying vaccine availability to more than 600,000 people in Maharashtra.
Ms. Sneha Krishnani, Founder & CEO of Skéveur stated, “Getting vaccinated was definitely a necessity, but due to an extremely tight schedule, I had no time to constantly keep checking the site for slot openings. I was finding it extremely hard to book a slot. An acquaintance shared a link with me asking me to join a telegram channel that was sending out notifications for vaccine slot openings. I had no clue if it would work, but within a day of joining the Telegram channel, I was able to book a slot and get vaccinated. The notifications sent out a contained number of slot openings, pin code details and the date of the slot. I felt extremely lucky to have stumbled upon this method of getting vaccinated. This is an extremely crucial step being taken towards ending the pandemic, and I would recommend everyone who hasn’t been vaccinated yet to use this service to get vaccinated.”
Working towards a common goal, these young minds collaborated with Berty Thomas, developer of under45.in. “After starting the vaccine tracker for three cities, I reached out to Berty Thomas in order to distribute the regions for faster coverage and better management. We then mutually decided that since I reside in Maharashtra, I have a better understanding of the intricacies and functionality of the region, so I took the responsibility of expanding the tracker service to all the districts of Maharashtra as early as possible,” states Suchdeep.
This initiative is playing a definite role in India’s fight against the pandemic. Thus for all of you wanting to be a part of this movement, we request you to book a slot for anyone who is not technologically friendly so that the benefit of these notifications can be availed maximally.
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If you are looking to book a slot, then follow the steps to get the vaccination availability notifications:
1. Download the Telegram application on your Android device or iPhone.
2. Visit the link: https://linktr.ee/mhVaccineTracker.
3. Select the channel for your district and age group.
4. Join the channel and get notified once the vaccine is available in your district.
Suchdeep Juneja is a software developer by profession and a musician by passion. He has devoured the stage as a TEDx speaker and strives continuously to be a resource to the community at large.
