Co-WIN 2.0 app to launch on March 1, walk-ins at vaccine sites allowed

People who are 60 plus will be registered automatically and for those between the age of 45 and 60, Co-Win 2.0 will ask for comorbidities clarification.

Moneycontrol News

February 26, 2021 / 05:18 PM IST

Representative image.

The Co-WIN 2.0 app, which will drive the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination in India will be launched on March 1, revealed R S Sharma, chairman of Co-Win panel.

Nationwide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 while vaccination for the front-line workers started from February 2.

In an interview with News18, Sharma said that eligible beneficiaries would be able to self-register on March 1 itself or March 2.

Those who are eligible for the vaccination in this phase can register themselves on the government's portal, Co-WIN (a digital platform that was formed for real-time monitoring of COVID-19 vaccine delivery) or Arogya Setu or any other application such as a common service app, said Sharma.

The user will receive an OTP as soon as they register through their phones. Once the account is created, the user needs to fill in the required details such as name, age, gender and identity card. One can get up to four family members registered on the account.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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