After the success of CoWin as a platform for the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination, the Union government is looking to repurpose the technology for more healthcare requirements.
What is being worked out?
- Right now, work is on to adapt the app for the universal immunisation programme (UIP).
- For mothers and babies, it will bring the ease of discovery of vaccination centres or camps and reminders for subsequent vaccinations for preventable diseases.
- The addition of digitally verifiable certificates for routine immunisation will be the first of its kind globally, and it is a great way to start building longitudinal health records for a child right from its birth.
- In addition to immunisation, the platform will be considered for the use-cases of blood donation and organ donation in the months to come.
What is ‘Co-Win’?
- Registration on the Co-WIN app is mandatory for anyone to receive the vaccination. Co-WIN is a cloud-based IT solution for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Covid-19 vaccination in India.
- It is an end-to-end solution that connects the entire public health system from national level right up to the vaccinator level.
- Co-WIN allows for creation of different users (admins, supervisors, and vaccinators), registration of beneficiaries, followed by planning and scheduling sessions and subsequently vaccine administration and following up of beneficiaries after the vaccination.
- In a real-time basis, the app tracks not only the beneficiaries but also the availability of vaccine stock at the national, State and district levels. This allows the system to monitor the utilisation, wastage, coverage of Covid-19 vaccination at various levels.
How does it work?
- Each vaccinated person is issued a digital certificate with details of the vaccine shot he/she received and the schedule for the next round of the shot, among other things.
- The registration on Co-WIN is essential to get the vaccination and the government has also opened it up for self-registration.
- There are three different options for people to register using the Co-WIN app or website — self-registration, individual registration and bulk upload. The government has listed 12 different documents that can be used for registration as well as for proving the identity of the beneficiary at the time of vaccination.
- They include voter ID, Aadhaar card, PAN card, passport, passbook issued by banks and post office, service ID card issued by Central/State governments and public limited companies, pension document with photograph, health insurance smart card, and MGNREGA job card.
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