Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work or CoWIN was introduced by the Indian government in January

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the CoWIN global conclave, where countries that have shown interest in the government's digital platform were given an opportunity to adopt it. The platform is being used in India as it allows people to register for vaccination against Covid-19, book a slot and download vaccination certificates.

As many as 50 countries including Canada, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama and Uganda have shown interest in adopting the CoWin platform. Here is everything you should know about India’s vaccination registration web portal.

What is CoWIN?

Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work or CoWIN was introduced by the central government in January when the vaccination drive against Covid-19 began in the country. It is a website for beneficiaries and for officials associated with the vaccination process.

With the use of this e-portal, India has been able to vaccinate more than 35 crore people till date. The vaccination drive that began on January 16 has entered its third phase where adults are provided with free vaccination as PM Modi began the drive on June 21.

Key features

The web-portal allows beneficiaries to book a vaccination slot. They can choose a day and time slot as per their preference. The beneficiaries can register at the website with their phone number.

After that, they will then receive an OTP to be entered in the required field. The next step is to add Aadhaar - or other identity proof like Passport or Driving License etc - details. Then, the beneficiaries can move forward to book their vaccination slot.

The app also allows the user to add four family members in their profile and book slots for them as well.

After successful vaccination, they can also download their certificate from the portal.
To facilitate Indians planning to travel abroad, the platform also offers the option of linking one's passport with that of the Covid-19 vaccine certificate.

Recently, the center has added a new feature to eliminate duplication in certificates of CoWIN. This has been helpful for those beneficiaries who failed to get the final certificate despite obtaining both doses because they used different cellphones to register on the portal. Earlier the bug was that the beneficiaries were getting two first dose certificates showing different mobile numbers.

Co-WIN to go global

As Co-WIN goes global, India will offer the indigenously developed platform free-of-cost as a digital good to about 50 countries to run their respective COVID-19 vaccination drives. Countries like Canada, Uganda, Mexico, Nigeria, and Panama have shown interest in adopting the platform, as per National Health Authority (NHA) CEO Dr RS Sharma.

Monday's conclave aims to share India's experience with regards to universal vaccination to fight Covid-19 through CoWIN, the NHA said in a statement posted on its website.It is a joint initiative by the Union ministry of health, external affairs and the NHA.