The CoWin platform is being made open source and it will be available to any and all countries, Prime Minister Modi said, addressing the CoWin Global Conclave here on Monday.
He said that with nearly 200 million users, the Aarogya Setu app is a readily available package for developers.
“There is no parallel to such a pandemic in hundred years and no nation, however powerful, can solve a challenge like this in isolation,” Mr. Modi said, and added that all had to work together.
“Guided by the approach of ‘One Earth, One Health’, humanity will certainly overcome this pandemic,” he said.
Stating that India has adopted a completely digital approach while planning its vaccination strategy the Prime Minister said a secure and trustworthy proof helps people to establish when, where and by whom they have been vaccinated.
“Digital approach also helps in tracking the usage of vaccination and minimizes the wastage,” he said.
Mr. Modi stressed that the conclave was the first step to introduce this platform to the global audience. He said that through CoWin, India has administered 350 million doses of Covid vaccines, including nine million people in one day, few days ago.
“Furthermore, vaccinated people do not need to carry around fragile pieces of paper to prove anything. It is all available in digital format,” said the Prime Minister. He also highlighted the customizability to the software as per the local requirements of the interested countries.
Speaking about the CoWIN Global Outreach Program, R.S. Sharma, CEO NHA, said India endeavours to share this tech-enabled vaccination platform as a free public good with the world.
“It is a known fact that nations across the world are endeavouring for universal vaccination amidst the steepest timelines,” said Dr. Sharma, adding that “it’s clear that as we thrive in the age of digital in the 21st century, we can’t rely on methodologies from a century ago of achieving herd immunity by letting a pandemic leave the society devastated, like the Spanish Flu did.”
“Persistent immunization is going to be, by far, the most effective means to keep our people safe, globally,” he said.
He added that the virulent nature of this virus and its highly infectious nature does not provide us with the luxury of time as in the previous cases.
“This is where CoWIN stepped in. CoWIN or the Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network, has been serving as the tech backbone of one of the largest vaccination programs in the world,” he said.
Dr. Sharma said that CoWIN has become the fastest tech platform in the world to amass over 200 million registrations in a record four months, and then 300 million registrations in a mere five months.
“As this pandemic has taken its toll on nations globally, the gaps in healthcare delivery have become more apparent than ever. In India, we want to continue to build on the success of Co-WIN to address these gaps and invest in the development of the tech infrastructure for healthcare” said Dr. Sharma in his key note address.
