How to Book COVID-19 Vaccination Slots on WhatsApp in India

Aug. 24, 2021

India openedregistrations for COVID-19 vaccinationsearlier this year. According to the government’s stats, over 13.26 crore citizens have been fully vaccinated so far, and almost 46 crores of Indians have received their first dose of the vaccine. Now, to help simplify the vaccination slot booking process, the Indiangovernment has made it possible to book COVID-19 vaccinations slots on WhatsApp. In this article, you will learn how to book your COVID-19 vaccination slot using WhatsApp in India.

Note:Before we proceed further, I would like to point out that you can’t register for the COVID-19 vaccine through WhatsApp. Instead, you will have tovisit the Cowin websiteto register and add members. The process involves adding basic details and a government-issued photo ID. You can check our detailed guide toregister for the COVID-19 vaccine in India.

2. Next,send “Book Slot” as a messageand enter the 6 digit OTP you receive as an SMS. Notably, you should enter the number you used to register for the Coronavirus vaccine. If your WhatsApp number is not the same one you used for COVID registration, you will be asked to enter the registered number.

3. You will now see a list of all the members you have added to your Cowin account. To book the vaccination slot for a specific member, type the number mapped to them in the WhatsApp message. In my case, it’s ‘1’. After picking the beneficiary,tap the “Search by pincode”button from the next message to search for a vaccination center by pincode.

4. You can now choose to view free vaccines, paid vaccines, or both. You cantap on “Any” to view both free and paid ones. If you are trying to book the slot for your first vaccine shot, you will also see an option to pick the vaccination type.

5. Up next, you should enter the pincode of your area. The chatbot will then show you the available centers near you, along with the date and number of doses.Type the number next to the date to book your vaccination slot. For example, as shown in the image below, if you would like to book the slot on August 25, message ‘2’ to the chatbot.

6. You will then receive the confirmation message for your Coronavirus vaccination slot in India. After confirmation, you can visit the vaccination center on the scheduled date and time to get your vaccine dose.

Use MyGov Corona Helpdesk to Book Vaccination Slots on WhatsApp

So, that’s how you can use the MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot to book vaccination slots on WhatsApp. After getting vaccinated, you can check our guide todownload your COVID-19 vaccination certificate via WhatsApp. You could also go through ourlist of COVID-19 resources in Indiaand our article onfinding a slot at your nearest COVID-19 vaccination centerto set up alerts.

Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.