WhatsApp had joined forces with the Indian government to have a chat bot that helps people find vaccination centres near them in India. Now, its parent company Facebook, again in partnership with the Indian government, has launched a vaccine finder tool on its mobile app in India. It will basically help people identify places nearby to get vaccinated.
It is available in 17 languages.
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"In this tool, vaccine centre locations and their hours of operation have been provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. The tool will also show walk-in options (for 46 years and above) and a link to register on the CoWin website and schedule your vaccination appointment. You can access the tool in the Covid-19 Information Center," Facebook said on its India page.
The social media platform is also providing health resources to people from UNICEF India about when to seek emergency care and how to manage mild Covid-19 symptoms at home. The information is accessible and prominent on Facebook’s Covid-19 Information Center and in Feed. On Instagram, it's promoting this information via Guides in Explore.
Facebook had earlier announced a $10 million grant for emergency response efforts for the Covid-19 situation in India.
It will ally with NGOs and agencies like United Way, Swasth, Hemkunt Foundation, I Am Gurgaon, Project Mumbai and US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), to deploy the funds announced to help build up a stock of critical medical supplies with over 5,000 oxygen concentrators and other life-saving equipment.
Samsung offers money and equipment
Meanwhile, other corporates are also chipping in with their help the situation ravaged by the Covid-19 virus. Companies like Google, Amazon, Flipkart have all announced their bit.
Now, Samsung has pledged $5 million (approximately Rs 37 crore) as its contribution to India’s fight against the current surge of Covid-19.
Samsung will donate $3 million to the Centre as well as to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
In addition, to help the healthcare system that has been stretched over the last few weeks, Samsung will provide USD 2 million worth of medical supplies, including 100 Oxygen Concentrators, 3,000 Oxygen Cylinders and one million LDS syringes. These will be offered to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the company said.
In April 2020, Samsung had contributed Rs 20 crore to India’s fight against the pandemic. This included a donation to the Central government and support to local administration in Noida (where the company has its plants) and provided hospitals there with medical equipment required in the preventive drive against the pandemic.
