Facebook has partnered with the Indian government to add a vaccine finder tool to its mobile app in India. Using this tool, Facebook users in the country can locate nearby vaccination centers. This comes merely a few days after the social networking giant announced a $10 million grant for emergency response efforts in the country.
Vaccine Finder Tool on Facebook
According to Facebook, the vaccine finder tool will be available in 17 languages and will start rolling out this week. Available in the COVID-19 Information Center of Facebook, you can view vaccine center locations along with their hours of operation in this tool. It will also highlight walk-in options for those older than 45 years and a link to the Cowin website.
“Partnering with the Government of India, Facebook will begin rolling out this week its Vaccine Finder tool on the Facebook mobile app in India. Available in 17 languages, the tool will help people identify places nearby to get the vaccine,” says the company.
Anmol from our team already has access to the feature and here’s what it looks like. You can access it by navigating to the menu from the top navigation bar. Here, jump into the ‘COVID-19 Information Center’ and scroll down to the ‘Find a COVID-19 Vaccine’ section.
To efficiently utilize the $10 million fund, Facebook is partnering with organizations, including United Way, Swasth, Hemkunt Foundation, I Am Gurgaon, Project Mumbai, and US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF). In addition, the company says it is supporting NGOs and UN agencies in India with ad credits and insights. This way, these organizations can reach the majority of people on Facebook with relevant information.
If you’re not a Facebook user, you can go directly to Cowin’s official website to find your nearest vaccination center. You can also use Google Maps to check COVID-19 vaccination center locations in the country. For step-by-step instructions, go through our guide on how you can register for the COVID-19 vaccine in India. Also, check out our list of COVID-19 resources if you’re looking for vacant beds or helpline numbers.
