As India struggles through a deadly second coronavirus wave, with strained health facilities marked by a severe shortage of beds and supplies of medicines and oxygen, the country is also facing a number of accessibility issues with its online vaccination portal.

Access to Covid-19 vaccinations is heavily dependent on users registering for vaccines through an English language digital portal, CoWin, launched in January. Although authorities allow people over 45 to walk into vaccination stations, the only option for 18-44 year-olds is to register for shots via CoWin. 

The push to vaccinate large numbers of people through the portal has excluded millions of Indians who don’t have access to the internet or electronic devices. According to a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India from last month, only 34.6 percent of the rural population has access to the internet. 

“People who are on the other side of the digital divide are excluded from creating vaccination slots,” says Anushka Jain, of Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights organization in India.