Co-WIN gates open, but no vaccination slots for 18+

Noida/Ghaziabad: Many residents trying to book a slot for Covid-19 vaccinations for those aged between 18 and 44 years were disappointed as the government’s Co-WIN portal didn’t process registrations. The registration option on the Aarogya Setu mobile app too didn’t work, they said.

Those who were able to get themselves registered said no appointments were available for booking. Wednesday was the first day for registrations for the upcoming phase of vaccinations from May 1, nationwide.

“Attempts to get a registration done on the Aarogya Setu app fell flat as the pathway to reach the registration page was not available. The app also displayed a notice saying those under 45 are not eligible for the jab,” Manish Kumar, a resident of Noida Extension, said. The district administrations of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad have not updated any details on the session sites for the new vaccination drive. Officials didn’t respond to queries by TOI.

Lakhs of people in both districts will be eligible for Covid jabs in the upcoming phase. Many residents had been trying to log on since Wednesday morning, but the registration window opened only at 4pm. A handful got themselves registered then, but couldn’t book a slot. “I have got myself registered on the portal and am now waiting for the appointment slot, which has not been allocated yet,” Ankit Gupta, a resident of Indirapuram, said.

“I couldn’t complete registration as the portal was not accepting the one-time password (OTP) I received,” Gautam Pandey, a Noida Extension resident, said.

Shyam Kumar, another Noida Extension resident, said: “The site hung multiple times. Some managed to get themselves registered. Many others will be trying in the days to come.”

“I waited for an hour after 4pm as I thought there would be a rush. But even after that I failed to get registration done. There might have been some technical problem because of which the portal wasn’t responding,” said Shivangi Mishra, a Kavi Nagar resident. “The page would just not open and after an hour of futile attempts, I gave up. I was later told that there was an official response saying that the system had crashed,” said Santosh Mondal, who lives in Vaishali.