COVID-19: Now find nearest vaccination centres on Facebook

With the Indian government allowing 18+ to get their vaccination jabs, Facebook has announced rolling out a ‘Vaccine Finder’ tool’ on its mobile to help people find their nearest vaccination centre, the company announced on Friday. 

Facebook has developed the tool in a tie-up with the Indian government. The feature is available in 17 local languages to ensure that more people, especially those living in towns and villages could benefit from it. 

You can use the tool to identify centres nearby your location where you can get Covid-19 vaccines. You can also check the operating hours of the vaccination centre on the app. The data is by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

Facebook has launched its new feature just days after its rival Twitter launched a prompt box on its Android and iOS app. The box named “Covid-19 Vaccines: Know the facts” is rolled out by the microblogging firm to let people access the latest vaccine info in the country.

As of now, Facebook’s tool is showing centres where people above 45 can vaccinate themselves, along with a link that redirects users to the official CoWin portal. Facebook is also said to be working in partnerships with NGOs and UN agencies in India to help them share credible Covid-19 information to its millions of Indian users. The social media giant has donated ad credits to support the mission. 

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also recently a $10 million grant for emergency response efforts in order to help the country fight the second wave of Covid-19. “We are partnering with organizations such as United Way, Swasth, Hemkunt Foundation, I Am Gurgaon, Project Mumbai and US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) to deploy these funds to help augment critical medical supplies with 5000+ oxygen concentrators and other life-saving equipment such as ventilators, BiPAP machines and to increase hospital bed capacity," Facebook’s statement read.