Now book COVID-19 vaccination slots directly on Google Search, Maps
Search giant Google on Wednesday announced that its users in India would be able to access detailed information on COVID-19 vaccination, slot booking, vaccine availability, and other related topics starting this week. Users will be provided data about vaccine availability and appointments across 13,000+ locations in the country on Google Search, Maps, and Assistant. Here are more details.
Vaccine information is powered by the government-run Co-WIN portal
The COVID-19 vaccine information displayed by Google is powered by real-time data from the Indian Government's Co-WIN APIs. The displayed data should include inoculation slot availability at each center, the brand of vaccine available and dose (dose 1 or dose 2), pricing (paid or free), and a link to the Co-WIN portal for booking the slots.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Madaviya lauded the initiative on Twitter
On Maps, you can see designated COVID-19 hospitals, appointment requirement
To use the new facility, open Google Search or Maps and in the search box, enter "covid vaccine near me." In our testing, Maps displayed the location of vaccination centers near us and told us whether vaccinations are by appointment or by walk-ins. Usual business information such as the star rating and operational timings were available, too. Designated COVID-19 hospitals were marked as such.
On Search, comprehensive results cover all bases regarding COVID-19 vaccines
On the Search results page, Google displayed a prominent link to register using the Co-WIN portal, vaccination center locations, and helpful tabs spanning categories like news, priority groups, statistics, safety, side effects, and registration. Google also displays statistics including the number of doses given, the number of fully vaccinated people, and the percentage of the fully vaccinated population in your country and the world.
You can book appointments directly on Google Search
To book a slot on Google, use the "Book Appointment" feature on the Search results page. In a blog post, Google said that people continue to seek information related to the pandemic and it remains committed to sharing authoritative and timely information to help.
Google reiterates commitment to partner with Co-WIN in India
Besides English, Google offers this unique search result in other Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, and Marathi. Google emphasized that it will continue to partner with the Co-WIN team to extend this functionality to all the vaccination centers in the country. The service can be accessed via Assistant as well by asking, "Find COVID-19 vaccination near me."
