In a view to ramping up COVID-19 vaccination coverage in India, the vaccine appointments on CoWIN can now be booked via Google as the search giant will be providing detailed information on coronavirus vaccine availability, slot-booking, and more.
Taking to Twitter, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "The Ministry of Health has taken yet another significant initiative to enhance access to COVID-19 vaccines."
Google on last week said users will be able to get more information about vaccine availability and appointments for over 13,000 locations in the country across its three products - Search, Maps and Assistant - starting this week.
COVID-19 vaccination slots: How to book vaccine appointment on CoWIN via Google
- Go to Google search or Google Maps
- Now, search 'covid vaccine near me' on Google
- Check availability of slots and more
- Tap on 'Book Appointment' feature to book a slot
The Covid-19 vaccine information is powered by real-time data from the CoWIN APIs, and includes details like availability of appointment slots at each centre, vaccines and doses offered (Dose 1 or Dose 2), pricing (paid or free), and link to CoWIN website for booking, according to a statement.
Also Read: Got vaccinated? Here's how you can download your COVID-19 vaccination certificate
The information will automatically show up when users search for vaccine centres near them, or in any specific area – across Google Search, Maps and Google Assistant, it added.
Also Read: CoWIN, Aarogya Setu: How to download COVID-19 vaccination certificate
In addition to English, users can also search in eight Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, and Marathi.
Also Read: COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate: How to fix error in Name, Year of Birth and more via CoWIN
Google said it will continue to partner closely with the CoWIN team to extend this functionality to all vaccination centres across India. In March this year, Google started showing information on COVID-19 vaccination centres, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.