CoWIN glitches may only erode people's confidence

This picture has been used for representational purpose

Even though it generated 4,000 messages for vaccine recipients on the CoWIN app, the alerts did not reach most health workers and the BMC had to call people ahead of the second day of the vaccination drive, a report in this paper said.

The civic body had decided to go ahead with the vaccination drive recently, irrespective of how the app worked. There had been several glitches in the app, necessitating a suspension for two days. Then, the BMC decided to go back to the old system and started trying to contact the 4,000 people shortlisted for the drive over phone, via ward-level war rooms.

Now, it has been claimed that errors have been ironed out and the drive continues. We must praise the civic authorities, as managing such a mammoth drive involving such a large number of people, is an unenviable task.

Let there be better technical management of the CoWIN app. It was disappointing to note that just as the rollout began, we saw a glitch in the app, and the vaccination drive had to be stalled.

There is something to be said about this glitch. We understand that technical problems creep in and there are times when machines pack up.

This must be looked at through a wider prism. Here, we are trying to win the confidence of a citizenry on edge. Every setback can start putting doubts into the minds of the people, who will become even more sceptical about the vaccine than they currently are. As it is, people are riddled by confusion, a whole lot of information - a lot of it misleading, some of it true - when it comes to the vaccination drive. In the wake of such a deluge, they need reassurance, the knowledge that they are in good hands.

We congratulate all those who made the vaccine possible, but as smooth a process as possible will mean confidence and trust. Let us aim for a CoWIN-win situation.