Cowin, Aarogya Setu crash as citizens over 18 rush to register for vaccines

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, April 28

The central government’s CoWIN website and Aarogya Setu app faced glitches and server problems on Wednesday within minutes of opening registration for people over 18 as several thousand Indians tried to register for the vaccination drive amid a growing surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Several people took to Twitter and Facebook about server problems as registrations opened at 4 pm on Wednesday.

Initial complaints were about people not receiving one-time passwords required for the process, but servers crashed less than 30 minutes into registration. Some said although they could register, slots were still unavailable for people over 18.  

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said people are unable to log on to the CoWIN web portal for registering themselves for the next vaccination phase starting May 1 and highlighted the "shortage" of vaccines in the country.

At 4.35 pm, a tweet from the verified Twitter handle of the Aarogya Setu mobile application said the CoWIN portal is working and that there was a minor glitch at 4 pm, which was fixed.

"Cowin portal is working. There was a minor glitch at 4 pm that was fixed. 18 plus can register," it said.

At 4.54 pm, a tweet from the same handle stated: "Vaccination appointments for 18 plus will be possible once the state governments and private vaccination centres schedule vaccination sessions. Registration is happening on cowin.gov.in." Registration for the newly-eligible category for COVID-19 vaccination is possible through the CoWIN platform and the Aarogya Setu app.

The government of India’s servers for vaccine registration faced similar issues when registration first opened for the elderly last month.

As provided in the Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy document, all priority groups such as healthcare workers, frontline workers and citizens aged 45 years and above shall continue to be eligible for vaccination for free from government CVCs and on payment from private CVCS.

After registration, taking an appointment to get a COVID-19 vaccine jab would be mandatory for those between 18 and 44. Walk-ins will not be allowed initially.

Those over 45 could still opt for on-site registration to get vaccinated, officials said.

— With PTI

#CowinApp not able to register for the vaccine...what next???? pic.twitter.com/B3udqTpPdh

— Benedicta Pais (@benedicta_pais) April 28, 2021

your incognito hack worked. No slots available for us. Once which are available are for 45+ pic.twitter.com/rCzZhBurnm

— Dipti Sawant (@dpt317) April 28, 2021

Server down 😐😐 ,
Who else is facing this problem or only me ? @SetuAarogya#cowinregistration #CoWin #CowinApp pic.twitter.com/Ipe6NbFXsp

— ᴀɴɪᴋᴇᴛ ꜱᴏɴɪ (@AniketSoni01) April 28, 2021

Stuck at OTP verification. No OTP received! #CowinApp pic.twitter.com/3oK63Z2MuJ

— SAUPTIK SINHA (@sauptik87) April 28, 2021

Is this a joke?
Such a useless and disappointing thing. No slots until july. The govt is literally playing football with common man! @MoHFW_INDIA #CowinApp #cowinregistration #CoWin pic.twitter.com/2Z7nk6EKUc

— Vishnu Kausthub (@vKausthub) April 28, 2021

Yeh IRCTC website ko janam dene wala mulk hai. And that is the pinnacle of technology. https://t.co/QLaQEd8cNq

— Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) April 28, 2021

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