Finding vaccination slots

Good morning!

There's only one way out of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic — vaccines. India has expanded its vaccination drive to include every adult person, but with the increasing demand for COVID-19 vaccines and limited stocks, many people are finding it difficult to book slots.

To aid people in finding COVID-19 vaccination slots, Bengaluru-based digital wellness startup HealthifyMe launched a new portal, ‘Vaccinateme.in'.

The portal is built using CoWIN API and enables people to find the available vaccination slots in real-time in their area or district. 

The platform uses several filters — such as pin code, district, age, choice of vaccine, and free or paid vaccination centres — to make the search more personalised. HealthifyMe is also planning to add more features and filters over the next few days.

Meanwhile, India’s Twitter rival, Koo, is also undertaking initiatives to make it easier for people to find hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, and other equipment. It is also developing a new feature that would notify users about vaccine availability.

Read about how the Indian startup ecosystem is battling the second wave of COVID-19 here.

Here are some useful tools and links that can help you find the nearest vaccine centres in real-time.

The Interview

India is firmly in the grip of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with several states under lockdown, it is causing a lot of uncertainty. Morgan Stanley MD Rajat Mathur says that we need to stay calm and stay positive to tide the storm out. He also says that organisations are facing the need to re-invent themselves, and the pandemic has accelerated the changes.

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After finding out that their daughters needed toxin-free products, Malika Datt Sadani and Mohit Sadaani started researching and eventually began to manufacture themselves. In 2016, they founded The Moms Co to provide toxin-free products for prenatal and postnatal consumption, and baby care. Read more.

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Vaccines are the only way out of the coronavirus pandemic, and India needs to ensure that the vaccine supply reaches more people quickly. MyVacc, which was started to vaccinate children at home, is now assisting Bengaluru's civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), during the second phase of the vaccination drive. Read more.

News & Updates

• American banking major Citibank committed an additional Rs 200 crore to support COVID-19 relief measures in India. The amount will be spent over the next three financial years, and Rs 75 crore will be allocated towards immediate medical and humanitarian needs.

• Koo is undertaking a slew of initiatives, including making it easier for people to find leads for hospital beds and oxygen cylinders. It will allow potential plasma donors to sport badges on their profile pictures and a new feature would notify users about vaccine availability.

• Rural-focused fintech player Spice Money has launched a dedicated assistance initiative for vaccination registration to enable rural citizens to register through its dense network across more than 18,000 PIN codes.

• The government said that spending by companies for setting up health infrastructure for COVID-19 care will be considered as CSR activities. This comes after the ministry clarified that spending for setting up makeshift hospitals will be considered as CSR activity.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it will provide a term-liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore to ease access to funds for emergency medical services. Under the scheme, banks will be able to provide fresh lending support to a broad range of entities.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“We need the vaccines and people to give the vaccines to, but digital backbone is important and India has developed something that is truly remarkable.”

— Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder, Infosys

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