Over 79 lakh registrations for COVID-19 vaccine were recorded on April 28, claimed National Health Authority chief executive officer (CEO) RS Sharma, who is also the chief of CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work) platform.
The vaccine registration, via the CoWIN platform and Aarogya Setu App, was opened up for the 18-44 age group on April 28, three days before the start of inoculation drive's third phase. According to Sharma, most of the registrations were recorded from this age group.
"There have been 79,65,720 registrations on Co-WIN today, most of these in the last three hours (16:00-19:00) and mostly of 18-44 age group. We have seen a traffic of 55,000 hits per second. System functioning as expected," the CoWIN app chief said.
His statement, on Twitter, came hours after both - CoWIN and Aarogya Setu app - crashed due to the massive online traffic. An array of netizens took to social media to claim that they were unable to access both the portals.
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The surge in traffic was expected as a huge section of the population, aged between 18 and 44, turned eligible for vaccine registration. From May 1 onwards, all adults would be inoculated, based on the appointment they receive through the CoWIN portal or Aarogya Setu app.
While the Centre has ambitiously opened the vaccination drive, a number of states have red-flagged the shortage of doses. In the absence of adequate vaccine supply, the jabs are likely to be prioritised for those yet to receive the second dose and those falling in the 45-plus age group.
"We have all the infrastructure to conduct vaccination but we don't have vaccines in adequate quantity. The CM is talking to different vaccine manufacturers. There will be separate centres for vaccination of those between 18-44 years of age," said Rajesh Tope, the health minister Maharashtra, the state worst affected by the second virus wave.