"Ready For Large Numbers": CoWIN Chairman on Vaccine Registrations

With registration having opened for all adults for COVID-19 vaccination on Wednesday, National Health Authority CEO RS Sharma has said the CoWin app and designated platforms will display the prices given by different entities and which hospital is offering which vaccine and at what price.

In an interview with ANI, he said all information will be made available to people and NHA will continue to announce as and when states come on board.

Noting that the registration started at 4 pm today, he said "people must know, making registration is one part and getting an appointment is the other".

"The appointment will be based on the facilities available. The programme is to start on May 1. There may be situations where some states will come on May 1 whereas some will be able to come later. The visibility in bookings or vacancies will be available as and when facilities come on board. So people should have patience. We are creating a separate search facility to see the vacancies available," he said.

Registration began for those above 18 on http://cowin.gov.in, Aarogya Setu App and UMANG App at 4 pm on Wednesday.

Appointments at state government centers and private centers will depend on how many vaccination centers are ready on May 1 for vaccination of those above 18 years of age. The government had liberalized its vaccination policy after an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Sharma said they were ready and geared up for large number of registrations.

"We had a test registration of about 5 million people in a day on the registration platform. Maybe the number will be double that after registrations are open. We are ready for it," Sharma said.

"We will continue to announce as and when states come on board. We will provide information in public. The advice to people is that you log in and get an appointment only when you see vacancies available," he said.

Sharma said some states and hospitals may come on board on May 1 or later, therefore, the visibility into the bookings/vacancy available for vaccination will be available when states, hospitals come on board.

Asked if there was a hurry in launching the programme as there is a perceived gap in the supply of vaccines, Sharma said states will continue to come on board.

"There will be no situation where everybody is ready at the same moment. We started the programme and they will continue to come on board. Some may come early and some may come onboard later. The system must go on," he said.

He said people of over 45 years will continue to be vaccinated free of cost by the central government.

"So people should not think that the vaccination programme has been halted and restarted after May 1. We just changed few policies and liberalised the programme. We will announce as the states will come on board," he said.

"We will provide information in public so people do not have to log in every time to look out for available vacancies. We are creating a separate facility on our portal. Also, third parties will also be able to develop the facility as we have an open API policy. Once you can see a vacancy then you may log in to the system," he added.

He said availability of facilities be it in the government or in the private sector will be displayed on the portal.

"The platform will display the prices of vaccines available in different hospitals. People can also know the type of vaccine being administered at different facilities. The app will display the prices given by different entities. The platform will display which hospital is offering which vaccine and at what price. For private facilities, the type and price of the vaccines will be visible," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)