CoWIN to host more vaccine programmes

The CoWIN platform has been able to scale rapidly with the increasing pace of vaccination. What provisions are being made in CoWIN for the vaccination of children and adolescents?

With a phased rollout of the vaccination programme, the CoWIN platform has scaled quickly in an agile manner. This is evident from the platform’s multi-fold scale-up from 2-3 million vaccinations daily during phases 1 and 2 to a global high of 25 million vaccinations in a day during phase 3. There were multiple private and government applications (Umang, Arogya Setu), which have integrated with APIs of CoWIN and provided vaccination registration services.

From January, the policy for vaccination administration enabled the inclusion of the adolescent population. Initially, it was for the age groups 15-17, followed by age groups of 12-14. We have already included school IDs as photo ID proofs when the beneficiary doesn’t have any other ID proofs. For those belonging to the 12-17 age group, Covaxin, Corbevax and Covovax have been approved and digitally enabled for seamless registrations and recording through CoWIN. Additionally, six members can be registered on one mobile number, allowing parents to add their children to their registered CoWIN accounts.

Furthermore, discussions are on to repurpose CoWIN platform to accommodate the universal immunization programme for providing vaccination to children and pregnant mothers against preventable diseases.

Have other countries shown any interest in adopting this technology?

India decided to adopt a completely digital approach while planning its vaccination strategy. This helped people prove that they have been vaccinated, easing the renewal of socio-economic activities in a phased manner. A safe, secure and trustworthy proof helped people establish when, where and by whom they have been vaccinated. The digital approach also helped track the usage of vaccination and minimize wastage. India is providing the CoWIN platform free of cost to nations interested in adopting and customizing it. Over 140 countries attended the CoWIN Global Conclave to learn about this technology. Subsequent to the conclave, nearly a dozen countries expressed interest in exchanging learnings and best practices on digital administration of the covid vaccination programme.

How do you plan to expand the benefits of AB-PMJAY?

PMJAY is catering to a population of 107.4 million families included in the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011. The scheme has been implemented in 33 states and Union territories. States/UTs, in alliance with state health insurance schemes, have further extended the beneficiary base to 145 million families.

Since 2021, we have been using the AB-PMJAY platform to extend healthcare benefits to other categories of beneficiaries. The Employees’ State Insurance Scheme is now operational through the AB-PMJAY platform (IT system, hospital network) in 157 districts. Benefits under AB-PMJAY have also been extended to building and construction workers in Bihar, Chandigarh, Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh. We are in discussions with nodal ministries to cover vulnerable sections like manual scavengers and transgender people.

Lastly, I would like to add that financial distress due to hospitalization is not restricted to poor families alone. Any family not covered under a health insurance scheme will have to confront catastrophic health expenses. Unfortunately, many such “non-poor” families cannot afford the premiums chargeable for commercial health insurance policies. This section of society is referred to as ‘Missing Middle’ and comprises informal sector workers, self-employed, small business owners etc. NHA is exploring options to extend healthcare protection to the “Missing Middle”. A pilot project is being launched wherein insurance providers can use the AB-PMJAY platform to cover different population groups.

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