The Government of India opened registrations for Coronavirus vaccination for the 18-45 age group earlier last week. Given the massive demand, it’s hard to find an open slot even if you’re glued to the Cowin website. Considering the situation, developers in the country have come together to create solutions that help people get an email or even Telegram alerts whenever an open slot is available nearby. In this article, we’ve picked the platforms you can use to find nearby vaccination centers and the websites for getting open slot email alerts.
Find Nearest COVID-19 Vaccination Center in India
1. CoWIN Website
The easiest way to find the nearest COVID-19 vaccination center near you is through the official CoWIN website. Visit the website, enter your area’s PIN code (or pick your state and district), and click the Search button. When the results appear, you can choose a center that has vacant slots based on your age. As you can see in the image below, you can check if a center has started vaccinations for people older than 18 (carried the Age 18+ tag) below the number of available slots.
Note: If you haven’t registered for the vaccine already, go through our guide on how you can register for COVID-19 vaccine in India.
2. Google Search and Maps
Another method for locating nearby Coronavirus vaccination centers in India is to use Google Search or Maps. Type ‘Covid 19 vaccine’ in Google Search and switch to the ‘Where to get it’ tab to view vaccination centers near you.
You can also search for vaccination centers through Google Maps. Just like Google Search, type ‘Covid 19 vaccine’ in the search box, and you will see nearby vaccination centers marked on the map. Do keep in mind that you need to register and book slots via CoWIN before visiting a center if you’re in the 18-45 age group.
3. MyGov WhatsApp Chatbot
WhatsApp has launched a chatbot in collaboration with the Indian government and Jio’s Haptik to help users find the nearest vaccination center. You can send ‘Hi’ or ‘Namaste’ to 9013151515 or use this direct link to access the chatbot. However, during my testing, it took over 10 minutes to respond, presumably due to overload.
When it responds, send ‘1’ to find information related to Covid vaccination centers. In response to the next message, send ‘1’ again and wait for the reply. Then, you need to input your PIN code to see the nearest COVID-19 vaccination centers along with the available slots and age limit. If the chatbot takes time to respond, check step 1 and use the CoWIN website instead.
4. Facebook COVID-19 Vaccine Finder Tool
Facebook recently added a COVID-19 vaccine finder tool to its mobile app in India. Using this, you can find the nearest vaccination center without leaving the Facebook app on iOS or Android. In a vernacular push, Facebook is making this tool available in 17 languages in the country. You can find this feature under Facebook’s COVID-19 Information Center.
5. Find Slot (for Coronavirus Vaccine in India)
Find Slot is a third-party service that uses CoWIN’s API to let you search for open slots for COVID-19 vaccines in your city. One key difference with the Find Slot website is that you can filter out the search results based on the age group. This way, you can find the vaccination slot you’re looking for with ease. Since the availability of the slots changes in real-time, you will have to hurry and visit the CoWIN website to book an appointment before it is gone.
Visit Find Slot to Book a COVID-19 Vaccination Slot in India
Get Email Alerts for COVID-19 Vaccines
1. GetJab Website
GetJab is a useful resource for getting email alerts with open COVID-19 vaccination slots in India. Developed by Freshworks product manager Shyam Sunder with his friends, Getjab will send you email alerts whenever new slots open for the 18-45 age group. All you have to do is enter your name, pick your district, and type your email address. You can optionally choose to add your phone number, presumably for SMS alerts.
Visit GetJab
2. Vaccine Tracker on Google Sheets
Developer Amit Agarwal, better known as labnol, for his popular Unroll.me alternative Gmail unsubscriber tool and other contributions, has created a vaccine tracker tool on Google Sheets. The project is open-source, and you can check out the source code on GitHub. Using this nifty tool, you can set up email alerts for whenever slots for COVID-19 vaccinations open in your area in India. Here’s how to use it:
1. Click this link and make a copy of the Vaccine tracker Google Sheet document in your Drive account by clicking the ‘Make a copy’ button.
2. When the sheet opens, click on the large ‘Launch Vaccine Tracker’ button and hit ‘Continue’ to allow necessary permissions.
3. You should now choose your Google account and allow required permissions using the ‘Allow’ button.
4. After that, add the PIN codes you want to track for COVID-19 vaccine slots for the 18-45 age group in India. It is worth pointing out that you can add multiple PIN codes by separating them using commas. Add your email address, pick the intended vaccination age group, and set the frequency for checking the availability. Available options are – every day, every 12, 6, 4, 2 hours, and every hour. Once done, click on ‘Create Email Alert’ to sign up for COVID-19 vaccine slot email alerts.
5. If you’re no longer interested in getting email alerts, go back to the Google Sheets document and click on the ‘Disable’ button.
Get Telegram Alerts for COVID-19 Vaccine Slots in India
Developer Berty Thomas has created a website to help people in the 18-45 age group find open vaccination slots in India. Also, Thomas has set up Telegram channels for district-specific slot alerts. You can find the appropriate Telegram channel for your city from this Twitter thread or the Under 45 website’s home page.
Visit Under 45 Website
Locate COVID-19 Vaccination Centers Near You
So, those are the resources you can use to locate nearby Coronavirus (or COVID-19) vaccination centers and get alerts whenever there’s an open slot. If you know any other helpful resources that we forgot to mention here, do not hesitate to share them with us in the comments below. If you’re looking for other COVID-19 related resources such as ICU beds, oxygen, and more, check out our article on the list of COVID-19 resources in India.
