On Friday, Google India announced that it is working with the Union Ministry of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to accurately surface vaccination center details on Search, Maps, and Assistant.
In the coming weeks, the search engine giant plans to release details on vaccine centers. Since the drive began on January 16 after approval for Covishield and Covaxin, 2.6 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country.
“As Covid-19 continues to challenge our communities, we remain committed to doing all we can to assist the country’s health agencies at this key juncture of the pandemic, where the successful rollout of these large-scale vaccinations can help us collectively turn a corner and see a much-needed return to normalcy,” Google India said in a statement.
The company said that it has been working closely with the Union Health Ministry’s Rapid Risk Response Team, which is monitoring misinformation through regions and languages using social media listening tools and countering it with science-based messaging on vaccinations and pandemic response in general.
As the Central Government starts the process of mass vaccination against Covid-19, Google India has made an attempt to provide authoritative and timely information to people who have concerns about vaccines.
“We have worked with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to amplify this science-based narrative around vaccination drive,” Google India stated.
These panels combine information on the two vaccines, their efficacy, protection, distribution, and side effects, and are available in English and eight Indian languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, and Hindi.
This data comes from the MoHFW, and it contains responses to frequently asked questions, real-time information on vaccinations completed, and links to the MoHFW website for further local tools.
