Technology holds key for mass Covid vaccination

After a long wait, the Covid vaccination has started in the UK, US, and Canada of one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. While nations like the UAE and Bahrain approved the use of the Chinese vaccine, Singapore becomes the first Asian country to approve the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

This is good news for humanity given the scale of devastation this pandemic has brought to the world. However, vaccinating the massive population of the entire globe is a Herculean task, which can't be accomplished without the intervention of technology. Also, this task becomes tougher due to fears of possible side effects people develop after inoculation.

In this perspective, technology firms globally are coming up with solutions powered by new-age technologies such as machine learning, data analytics and cloud technology to enable government agencies to roll out this massive vaccination programme smoothly. These interventions can be divided into two parts. The first one is patient-specific, while the second one is related to supply chain issues.

For efficient and equitable distribution of vaccines, public health agencies have to undertake a registration process for identifying the vulnerable groups. After identification, these agencies have to schedule the vaccination process in a phased manner. Post-vaccination, people have to be monitored for any side effects. Apart from patient management, health agencies also have to take care of the supply management issues such as managing the cold chains, sourcing vaccine doses from pharmaceutical companies, availability in adequate numbers, and preserving vaccines under desired specifications.

Taking these factors into account, global IT services firms have already come up with new solutions. For instance, Genpact has tied up with the UK government for developing an AI (artificial intelligence) - a powered tool that will gauge Adverse Drug Reaction (ADRs) post-vaccination. Similarly, Infosys' subsidiary Simplus has launched a Salesforce-based vaccine administration system resolution which provides solutions related to citizen registration, prioritisation, provider enrolment, supply chain visibility, forecasting, vaccine administration, wellness surveys, and adverse event monitoring.

Similarly, Microsoft has tied up with Accenture to come up for enabling fair and equitable vaccine distribution across the globe. According to experts, vaccine distribution creates new business opportunities for the IT industry though the deal sizes may not be more than $40-50 million per contract. However, it will support the growth of the healthcare segment.

As the world sees light at the end of the tunnel, technology-based solutions are key to efficiently distribute the vaccine across the globe. At a time, when the lives and livelihoods of billions are at stake, technological intervention is a must for pulling out the world from this abyss created by the pandemic.

More so for India which is home to over 1.35 billion people. The governments at the Centre and in the States in India are also gearing up to tap IT for the speedier administration of vaccines. The effective use of IT is essential for the vaccination in India given the size of the country's population. Isn't it?