COVID Inoculation Drive Starts Tomorrow; Health Ministry Says CoWIN Registration Mandatory but Warns Against Fraudulent Apps

As India preps to vaccinate its people tomorrow, the Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan took to Twitter yesterday to announce that it is mandatory for beneficiaries to be registered on the CoWIN platform to receive COVID-19 vaccine.

He further added that the CoWIN app’s self-registration module will be released soon and that the QR code-based vaccination certificate will only be generated for COVID-19 vaccine beneficiaries who are registered on the CoWIN platform.

But self-registration process is yet to start and hence citizens should remain wary of fraudulent apps with similar names that may exist on different platforms, he announced in another tweet.

The CoWIN app will provide a real time information of vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine. Some of the other features of the app includes automated session allocation, and one of the authentication methods would be the use of Aadhar to prevent malpractice, stated the health ministry in last week’s press briefing.
A statement from PMO said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the world’s largest vaccination drive PAN-India on 16th January, 2021 at 10.30 AM via video conferencing.

Nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers will receive the jab in the first phase of inoculation drive. The vaccination program will use CoWIN to assist program managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions.