New Delhi: The increase in COVID-19 cases has sparked unprecedented interest in vaccination among people aged over 18, but the CoWin system crashed several times on the first day of public registration.

As a result, only a few people were able to obtain slots, though the government stated that more slots would be made available soon. The vaccination programme for people over the age of 18 begins on May 1st.

In the last 24 hours, India recorded nearly 3.61 lakh new cases and 3,293 deaths, amid concerns that testing would be disrupted in several locations due to a shortage of reagents and testing kits.

“The CoWIN site is getting almost 27 lakh hits a minute. More Appointment slots will soon be offered. If slots are not currently available, please check again after sometime. We request your patience and understanding," according to government sources. Appointments will be made based on slots made available by states and private vaccination centres, they added.

The third phase of vaccination, however, would begin amid concerns about vaccine shortages, as states such as Maharashtra have already had to turn away their citizens due to a lack of vaccine doses.

The Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation announced that 40 private vaccination centres will be closed on April 29 due to a lack of vaccine stock, while the remaining 33 private centres will only provide a second dose. Vaccine shortages has also been reported in some cities of Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the purchase of one lakh portable oxygen concentrators from the PM Cares Fund on Wednesday, as the government stepped up efforts to improve Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) supply for COVID management.

According to officials, the Prime Minister has directed that these Oxygen Concentrators be purchased as soon as possible and distributed to states with a high caseload.

In addition to the 713 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants already approved under the PM Cares Fund, 500 new PSA Oxygen plants have been approved. The PSA plants will help hospitals in district headquarters and Tier 2 cities get more Liquid Medical Oxygen.

The indigenous technology developed by DRDO and CSIR will be transferred to domestic manufacturers, resulting in the establishment of 500 PSA plants.