How I succeeded in getting vaccine slot on cowin portal

 India is undergoing a very difficult phase at this point of time, with Covid positve patients increasing exponentially, our resources are exhausted beyond imagination. One would think what went wrong in otherwise slowly but steadily picking up pace of normalcy. After year long WFH routine, offices were opening up, markets were all live and not to forget we planned mega events like elections, protests, religious congregations as if corona is a thing of past. In all this dull atmosphere, only ray of hope is the vaccination program rolled out by govt. of India. 

From 1 May onwards, authorities has opened registration for 18 years to 44 years candidates. After initially crashing down the servers due to mad rush for registrations, the portal is stable however users are still complaining of not getting slots. I have myself tried different combinations before coming to conclusion that there are no slots but its just a scam, as the centers would either show no availability or suddenly it will be completely booked. However I was wrong, wrong in concluding it to be scam and wrong in my approach for booking slots.

What should you know before going for slots booking.

As with anything else, people rush to get things done as soon as they can do, we are talking about a country where mobile phone flash sale records just don't matter now. Don't expect to open the app any time of your choice and find slots available near you. In my experience (Location Gurugram, Haryana), all free vaccine slots are opened a day before only, so don't bother yourself by searching for future dates you will find all unavailable. The slots are opened gradually for all the centers, for instance today first of the slot was available at around 11:30 AM and for the center when slots were opened last was 9:35 PM. The slots are booked within 5-10 mins of availability even the ones having 300 slots.

So, with above you can see even refreshing the screen all day is not going to help, you keep refreshing one center and some other center might get full without you knowing. I then looked up in the internet to find solutions and got to know that few techies are actually solving this very problem by making use of cowin API which are available for public to use. While most of the solutions work by searching on a portal and providing a consolidated status of vaccine centers by pincode or district, the one I found best was under45.in . 

How to use under45

Using this is very simple, just that you need to have a telegram account as pre-requisite. Once you open the url you will be directed to page as below to select your state and district.

Next step is to select your desired State and District combination where you are looking for registration.

Click on button with Telegram Icon and you should be able to join channel for your district, please not if your district is not in the list you can click on reply on this tweet link and request to add it.

Once you are added to the channel, you will get notification of each center whenever slots are opened in real time. Which will not only save you from searching all day, but also allow you to plan your centre wisely rather than booking just any center which may be far away from your place.

I was able to reschedule my appointment from Jhajjar (~ 30 Kms from my place) to within Gurugram in my proximity. Hope this will help you too to plan your vaccination. 

Read More

Uber introduces new safety features for Riders and Drivers amid COVID-19 crisis

Uber India today announced  at its first virtual press briefing the launch of a range of COVID-19 specific safety features and policies that will change the way you ride the next time you use the app.

 

The announcements include an interactive Go Online Checklist for both riders and drivers, a mandatory mask policy for riders and drivers, pre-trip mask verification selfies for drivers, and updated post-trip feedback mechanism and a cancellation policy. All these new features are aimed at building a new product experience, which will help protect everyone, every time they use Uber.

 

Beginning today, riders and drivers will see a number of new additions in the app, such as:

 

• Go Online Checklists: Before a driver can go online, they will be asked to confirm, via a new Go Online Checklist, that they’ve taken certain safety measures and are wearing a face mask. A similar checklist has been built for riders. Before every trip, they must confirm that they’ve taken precautions such as wearing a face mask and washing or sanitizing their hands. 
• Mask Verification: Before drivers are able to start accepting trips, they will be asked to take a selfie with a mask on. Uber’s new technology will verify the driver is wearing a mask.
• Accountability for all: We are adding new options for feedback including if a rider or driver is not wearing a mask or face cover.
• Updated cancellation policy: Drivers and riders can cancel trips if they don’t feel safe, including if a user is not wearing a mask or face cover. 
• New seat limits: To allow for space between the driver and rider during an Uber ride, we’re advising riders not to sit in the front seat. Only two riders will be allowed in a car and they’ll have to sit in the rear seat. 
• Rideshare Health Safety Education: Working with global and local public health authorities, we have compiled safety tips and recommendations that will be sent to all riders and drivers. 

 

Announcing the new features, Sachin Kansal, Global Senior Director of Product Management at Uber, said, “Over the last two months, our global tech and safety product teams have been hard at work building a new, product experience for riders and drivers. Today, as India eases its lockdown, it’s important we take all necessary precautions to help keep ourselves safe and to make the next trip safer for all. These new features and policies have been rolled out globally, and we will keep enhancing and revising them as needed to ensure a safer product experience for all.”

Below is the list of cities where Uber services are available as of 19th May, 2020 during Lockdown 4.0

1. Amritsar
2. Asansol
3. Bengaluru
4. Chandigarh
5. Coimbatore
6. Cuttack
7. Daman
8. Delhi
9. Durgapur
10. Faridabad
11. Ghaziabad
12. Gurgaon
13. Guwahati
14. Hubli
15. Jalandhar
16. Kochi
17. Kozhikode
18. Ludhiana
19. Mangalore
20. Mehsana
21. Mohali
22. Mysore
23. Panchkula
24. Patiala
25. Prayagraj
26. Rohtak
27. Silvassa
28. Sonipat
29. Thiruvananthapuram
30. Thrissur
31. Tiruchirapalli
32. Udaipur
33. Vapi
34. Visakhapatnam

Uber Essential is available to riders in Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, and Nashik.  

Read More

Uber will offer free rides to the Delhi Government for non-COVID patients of worth 75 lakhs, part of global committment to offer 10 million free rides

Uber today offered free rides worth INR 75 lakhs to the Delhi Government for emergency services, which will transport frontline healthcare workers, government officials on COVID-19 related duties, and other essential services. 

 

As part of its offer, Uber has partnered with the government to deploy 200 UberMedic cars, free of charge to transport non-COVID patients in coordination with the Centralized Ambulance Trauma Services (CATS) Ambulance Helpline.  

 

Uber’s partnership with the Delhi government is part of its global commitment to provide 10 million rides and food deliveries free of charge, recently announced by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

 

Sharing details about the association, Prabhjeet Singh, Director, Operations and Head of Cities, Uber India & South Asia, said, “The Delhi Government has been working tirelessly to contain the spread of COVID-19. We feel privileged to be supporting the Delhi government in these challenging times and stand ready to provide essential services to help move what matters by leveraging our global experience, technology and network of drivers.”

 

All the UberMedic cars being provided to Delhi government are being fitted with a roof-to-floor plastic sheeting enclosing the driver, thereby limiting contact with the rider. Additionally, to maintain safety and hygiene standards, while moving what matters, all drivers are being trained in safety procedures and being provided with personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, sanitizers and disinfectants to sanitize the cars between rides.

 

Uber’s recently launched UberMedic service is already facilitating the provision of transporting frontline medical workers in 28 hospitals across 14 Indian cities.  

Read More

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare onboards Twitter Seva, users can get answers to queries by tweets

The power of a uniquely open service during a public health emergency is clear. As the nation combats the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (@MoHFW_INDIA), Government of India today onboarded Twitter Seva to help Indians with speedy resolution to their health-related queries. This public service is aimed at enabling transparent e-governance delivery in real-time and will allow the Ministry to communicate effectively and at scale with the public, especially in crisis situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, announced the dedicated account @CovidIndiaSeva with a Tweet.

Launched @CovidIndiaSeva to respond to citizens' queries in real time ❗️

Experts will share authoritative public health information reg #COVIDー19 swiftly at scale, helping to build a direct channel for communication with citizens. 

Post your queries!#CovidIndiaSeva @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/9dPKh9Qklc

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) April 21, 2020

Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan), Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, said, “Over time, Twitter has proved to be an essential service for both the government and citizens to interact and exchange information, especially in times of need. As #IndiaFightsCorona with social distancing, we are happy to make a concerted online effort by adopting the Twitter Seva solution. It is powered by a team of experts who are trained and equipped to treat and respond to each query uniquely, and at scale. This will enable us in establishing a direct channel with Indian citizens, connecting with them in real-time to provide the authoritative health and public information.”

 
Twitter Seva is a customised live query redressal service. It works on a dashboard that helps process large volumes of Tweets, converts them into resolvable tickets, and assigns them to the relevant authority for real-time resolution. These conversations are transparent and everyone on the service can benefit from the responses received from the authorities around common queries. It is important to note is only for broader queries and does not require for the public to share personal contact details or health record details.
 
 
The dedicated account will be accessible to people be it local or national in their scope. Whether it is for latest updates on measures taken by the Government, learning about access to healthcare services or seeking guidance for someone who perhaps has symptoms but is unsure about where to turn to for help, the service will empower the public to reach out to the authorities. People in India can get their queries answered by Tweeting to @CovidIndiaSeva.
 
Over the years, as more and more people from India get on Twitter, an increasing amount of content across languages is being created. The service has witnessed a considerable rise in conversations in Indic languages. In fact, after English, Hindi is the second most used language on Twitter in India and non-English Tweets account for 50% of all Tweets on the service here. The service’s compatibility and usage across Indian languages will enable the Ministry in communicating with people from all parts of India.
Twitter has open lines of communication with the relevant authorities in the central and state governments and public health officials, to ensure they can troubleshoot account issues, and seek strategic counsel as they use the power of Twitter to mitigate harm and connect with the public at large.
Sharing her thoughts on this partnership, Mahima Kaul (@misskaul), Director, Public Policy, India and South Asia, Twitter, said, “To navigate this global health crisis, we need a collaborative approach between the government and our industry. Our work has never been more critical and our service has never been in higher demand. People from all parts of the country are taking to Twitter to be equipped with the quality information from authoritative sources. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has a vital role in ensuring that people have timely access to the latest official information and we’re delighted to play our part to support their critical mission.

Read More