How to locate nearest vaccination centre with Facebook vaccine finder?

Vaccination for COVID-19 is voluntary. However, it is advisable to receive the complete schedule of COVID-19 vaccine for protecting oneself against this disease and also to limit the spread of this disease to the close contacts including family members, friends, relatives and co-workers.

The third phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive starts on May 1. Registration will open at 4pm on April 28. For 18-44 year-olds, online registration is a must. From one mobile phone number, one can register 4 people.

Register on the Co-WIN Portal and schedule your vaccination appointment. https://www.cowin.gov.in/home

Vaccines are available from Government and Private Health Facilities as notified, known as COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs)

The government of India has kickstarted the third vaccination drive — allowing everyone above 18 years of age to get vaccinated. The drive is completely digitally-driven as a part of that outlook, the government rolled out the support to find nearest vaccination centres using the popular instant messaging app WhatsApp.

All WhatsApp users can find out the nearest vaccination centres in their area to be able to easily book slots to get vaccinated through a simple process, which is as follows:

• Save the official number for the Government of India’s Corona Helpdes 9013151515 on your phone’s contact book

• Star chat by sending Hi or Hello on the given Whatsapp Chatbot No.
• You will received an automated message includes essential and basic details such as emergency contact numbers, link to the Aarogya Setup app, change of language support and more.

• Reply ‘1’ for information related to centres and authentic information related to Covid vaccines.

• Reply ‘1’ again for centres related information.

• Now, you will be asked to type in your six-digit postal code

• After you enter your pin code, you will receive a list of all the centres in your area. This information includes the names of the centres, dates and number of slots for each date.

• The message also includes a link to CoWin website to book the slot

Online registration and appointment can be done through Co-WIN portal.

You will have to give some basic information about yourself and details of your photo identification card to get yourself registered online.

From one mobile phone number, one can register 4 people, however, each person will need their own photo identification document.

If Aadhar card is used as identification document, consent will be obtained and recorded.

Through the portal, you can find out the list of available CVCs and dates and time of available vaccination slots, to book an appointment as per your choice. You will need an OTP verification prior to registration and a confirmation slip/token will be generated after registration. You will also get a confirmatory sms later.

For all Private Hospitals, prior registration and appointment will be the only method of registration.

For Government hospitals, a proportion of slots will be available for online registration and appointment, the rest will be kept for on site registration and vaccination.

Appointments for any date for a Vaccination Center will be closed at 12:00 pm on the day prior to the date.

Those who cannot get themselves registered online can contact their local Government health workers, who will help the beneficiaries to the Government CVC for on the spot registration, appointment, verification and vaccination on the same day. Please ask your nearest Government health care worker to guide you about the nearest Government CVC where COVID vaccination will be available and the days of the week when this will be available. You need to carry your mobile phone and a photo identification document to get yourself vaccinated. The workers in the Government CVC will help you to register on the spot, get appointment and get vaccinated on the same day.

Any of the below mentioned ID with Photo may be produced at the time of registration:

• Aadhaar Card
• Driving License
• Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Job Card
• Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs
• PAN Card
• Passbooks issued by Bank/Post Office
• Passport
• Pension Document
• Service Identity Card issued to employees by Central/ State Govt./ Public Limited Companies
• Voter ID
• People with comorbidities will have to carry the certificate of comorbidities, in the format shared here by a registered medical practitioner

There is no head-to-head comparison done between the two vaccines being used in India so one cannot choose one over the other. Both would work fine in preventing the infection as well as prevent a person from going into severe state of the disease. As a long-term effect, it would be preventing death for elderly people or those who have comorbidities.

Longevity of the immune response in vaccinated individuals is yet to be determined. Hence, continuing the use of masks, handwashing, physical distancing and other COVID-19 appropriate behaviours is strongly recommended.

Both the vaccines are safe but in case of any discomfort or complaint, ask the beneficiary to visit the nearest health facility and/or call the health worker whose phone number is given in the Co-WIN SMS received after vaccination.

Yes, a provisional certificate would be provided after the first dose. On completion of second dose, when you receive the message for completion of schedule it would include a link to download digital certificate of vaccination for your perusal. This certificate can be then be saved in the digi-locker.