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Swarajya Staff
May 03, 2021, 06:11 PM | Updated 06:11 PM IST
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The Covid-19 vaccination for everyone above the age of 18 has started from 1 May. Meanwhile, tech giants like Google and Amazon have already come forward to help people locate their nearest vaccination centre.
Now, WhatsApp became the latest tech giant that gets added to the list, as it has introduced a new feature in India that will help its millions of users find the Covid-19 vaccination centre nearest to them.
The head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart said in a Tweet on 1 May that the company was working closely with the healthcare partners to operate helplines in the form of chatbots on the app.
He Twitted: “I am thinking of our friends in India going through such a difficult time with COVID and grateful for all the work people are doing to help one another.”
The Facebook-owned chat app has added the option to locate the nearest vaccination centre in India to the MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot.
The chatbot was launched in early 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic hit the world for the first time.
Now, it is capable of locating the nearest Covid-19 vaccination centres.
I am thinking of our friends in India going through such a difficult time with COVID and grateful for all the work people are doing to help one another. We're working with health partners to support helplines on WA like this one from @mygovindia https://t.co/pqE0VGHQbK https://t.co/uhmyEN5U7f
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) May 1, 2021
How To Find Vaccination Centres Via WhatsApp?
Save the MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot number +91 9013151515 and type “Namaste” on WhatsApp.
The automated response will then ask you for your area PIN code.
After entering the PIN code, the chatbot will send the list of vaccination centres in the particular area.
In case if you don’t want to save the number on your phone, you can head to wa.me/919013151515 which will direct you to the chatbot.
However, there are other ways to find the nearest vaccination centres.
Anyone can look for the nearest centres on CoWIN portal and the Aarogya Setu app.
Even though there are options to locate vaccine centres, one of the easier and convenient ways is through WhatsApp chat.