Bihar Government Launches ‘Vaccine Mitra’ In Collaboration With WhatsApp To Boost Vaccination

The 'Vaccine Mitra' chatbot will host easy access information regarding nearest vaccination centers and awareness around vaccines.

Bihar Govt. launches WhatsApp Chatbot

New Delhi: Bihar government in collaboration with Meta-owned messaging platform Whatsapp has launched a chatbot named ‘Vaccine Mitra’. The chatbot can be accessed by simply sending a 'Hi' on this link https://wa.me/919431025555 or at this number +91 9431025555. 

It is free to use and is available in English and Hindi languages. The chatbot has been developed with an aim to fuel Covid-19 vaccination drive in the state of Bihar by providing a wide range of information around Covid vaccines, thus, assisting in reaching out to the administration and addressing queries.  

Built with a simple interface, the users will be able to select ‘quick replies’ instead of typing out their queries in the chat window. Through the ‘quick reply’ prompt of the chatbot, users will be able to search for the nearest vaccination centre, gain awareness about Covid-19 vaccines and know other relevant things regarding vaccination. 

“Vaccine Mitra is a step towards digitally aiding citizens with easy access to information related to vaccination. We are hopeful that the citizens of Bihar will find this useful and together we will achieve success by vaccinating the entire population,” said Mangal Pandey, Health Minister of Bihar. 

Pratyaya Amrit, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Health said that the people of Bihar should “use the chatbot and spread the word.”

On the national front, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a review meeting on November 3 with district magistrates from districts where vaccination coverage of the first dose for adults is less than 50%. According to the government data, Araria district of Bihar is also in the list of 40 such districts where less than 50% of adults have not been inoculated with the first dose. The data reported that Araria is close to reaching 50% with current vaccine coverage of the first dose of vaccines for adults at 49.6%.