CoWin: Registration for this phase of the national vaccination drive was to begin at 4 pm.
Twitter has been flooded with messages of the CoWin app and website crashing or otherwise malfunctioning as people over 18 (and below 45) rush to register themselves for coronavirus vaccinations. Registration for this phase of the national vaccination drive was to begin at 4 pm.
The centre has allowed all citizens over 18 to get vaccinated from May 1. Previously only healthcare workers and frontline staff, and those over 45, were allowed to get the shots.
The decision to widen the vaccine net - a demand repeatedly made by opposition leaders and medical experts - comes as India is battered by a devastating wave of new infections.
This morning over three lakh new cases were reported in 24 hours for the seventh straight day, taking the country's active caseload to nearly 30 lakh - the highest it has ever been.
Over 3,000 deaths were also recorded in 24 hours - the most in a single day.