Vaccine-finder apps everywhere in India with few shots in sight

A nurse prepares a dose of Covaxin vaccine at a Covid-19 vaccination center at a municipal hospital in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Apps like those from Facebook and Google, and websites like VaccinateMe, Under45, FindMyVaccine, GetJab and FindSlot say they are trying to match supply and demand. Critics say they offer unfair advantages to tech-savvy Indians over the millions of others who can barely read or have no access to technology. — Bloomberg

Type Namaste, the Indian greeting, and a WhatsApp chatbot asks the user’s zip code and instantly throws up a list of vaccination centers nearby. A search on Google Maps shows the route to the nearest clinic with vaccine availability.

Technology giants from Facebook Inc to Alphabet Inc’s Google, and startups from Paytm to HealthifyMe, are rolling out a plethora of vaccine finder apps and tools to help schedule shots in a nation where the doses themselves are quickly running out.