Covid-19 vaccine website crashes

New Delhi: Surge in COVID-19 cases led to an unprecedented interest among the 18 plus population to get vaccinated but the CoWin system collapsed several times on the day it opened for public registration. As a result, only a few could manage slots though the government said more slots will be made available soon. The vaccination for the 18 plus population begins from May 1. In the last 24 hours India on Wednesday registered close to 3.61 lakh fresh cases and 3293 deaths amid concerns of testing going down in several places due to lack of reagents and testing kits.

“The CoWIN site is getting almost 27 lakh hits a minute. More Appointment slots will soon be offered. If slots are not currently available, please check again after sometime. We request your patience and understanding," government sources said. They added that appointments will be based on slots made available by states and private vaccination centres.

However, the phase 3 of vaccination would begin amid concerns of vaccine shortage as already states like Maharashtra had to turn back its people due to lack of vaccine doses. Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation announced that due to insufficient vaccine stock, 40 private vaccination centres will be closed on April 29, while the remaining 33 private centers will give only a second dose. Some cities in Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka too have been reporting shortage of vaccines.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi on Wednesday, sanctioned the procurement of one lakh Portable Oxygen Concentrators from the PM Cares Fund as the government also intensified efforts to improve Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) supply for COVID management. As per officials, the PM has instructed that these Oxygen Concentrators should be procured at the earliest and provided in States with high case burden.

In addition to the earlier sanctioned 713 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants under PM Cares Fund, 500 new PSA Oxygen plants have been sanctioned. The PSA plants will augment the supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen at hospitals in district headquarters and Tier 2 cities. These 500 PSA plants will be established with transfer of the indigenous technology developed by DRDO and CSIR to the domestic manufacturers.