Paytm, the digital payments application, has added a new tool called “COVID-19 Vaccine Finder” to its platform that will help its users find availability of vaccination slots in a specific area, as reported by Indian news websites. Paytm said that the platform will help people check the availability of vaccination slots for a specific date by individually entering their pin codes or district details along with the age group (18 or 45). “The automated process reduces the hassle and ordeal of refreshing the platform for new slots repeatedly. The data is sourced on a real-time basis from the CoWIN API where a slot can be booked to take the vaccination,” Paytm said in a statement.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder, Paytm, wrote on Twitter, “We are launching a new tool for users to find Covid Vaccine slots and set for alerts when new slots open up for their locality. Paytm checks for availability real-time and alerts users via Paytm Chat when a new slot opens up.” He informed that the tool would take real-time data from CoWIN, India’s COVID-19 vaccination program, and will stand for Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network.
Recently, Facebook partnered with the Indian government to roll out a vaccine finder tool on its mobile app, to help people identify places nearby to check the availability of vaccine slots. Facebook said in a statement, “Partnering with the Government of India, Facebook will begin rolling out its Vaccine Finder tool on the Facebook mobile app in India available in 17 languages to help people identify places nearby to get the vaccine.”
Earlier, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) had said that the vaccine tracker tool will allow users to find their nearest vaccine centers along with their hours of operations.
