As the World Health Organization outlines, there are currently 42 candidate vaccines for COVID-19 in the clinical evaluation stage. Research and development have accelerated at an unprecedented rate as the world comes together to find a safe but successful vaccine. Several of these candidates have yielded promising results already, and the time for vaccine management and administration (supposed to be a disrupting immunization program) is fast-approaching for public health agencies around the world. But are they ready?

With a little foresight and intuitive technology, state and public health organizations can all prepare for not just adequate but exemplary vaccine management. The Infosys Vaccine Management (IVM) solution was designed to be a comprehensive and end-to-end program solution, covering every facet and concern with mass vaccine administration for COVID-19 and beyond. Take a look at how the IVM solution works as a centralized solution for agencies to efficiently perform constituent engagement, demand management, supply chain, program administration, clinical management, data analytics, and compliance reporting.

Advocacy & Engagement

A vaccination program is successful when the target population knows why, when, and how to get involved. Bidirectional learning, collaborative partnerships, and real power-sharing are all critical, proven ways to leverage community engagement in the name of better health outcomes. 

IVM is equipped to support social mobilization, transform public perceptions and attitudes, and modify behaviors with targeted digital media campaigns (cultural- and linguistic-specific), fact sheets, stories, news updates, health education, and a tailored outreach and communication program for hard-to-reach, hard-to-vaccinate, and vaccine-hesitant population groups. Additionally, the solution provides flexibility to integrate helpful resources like point of dispensing details, access maps, schedule reminders, and FAQs on the vaccination program for increased public awareness and knowledge-building. All of this can increase the vaccination rates by keeping the population engaged in a trusting and simple manner. 

Demand Management

State and local jurisdictions will likely have to run their programs with limited vaccine availability in the initial period. Jurisdictions will need appropriate demand planning and management for state and local public health authorities to judiciously administer such a high-demand, high-priority vaccination program and overcome supply constraints.  Through its built-in prioritization framework (based on the CDC and ACIP guidelines), the IVM solution will help public health authorities bring the right balance between the vaccine supply availability and meeting the focussed population’s immunization demand. 

The Population Prioritization framework gives public health authorities the resources and strategy to target high-risk populations for vaccination first based on their current occupation and health conditions. In addition, the framework can be augmented with local socio-economic, demographic, and epidemiological criteria to assess the COVID vulnerability index of the population and adequately allocate and distribute the vaccine for the high- priority access groups in the jurisdiction, without compromising on public health ethics, equity, and social justice during the initial period of vaccine scarcity.

Cold Chain Process

The COVID-19 vaccination storage and cold chain maintenance can be highly complex and volatile. The new vaccine products will likely need special, ultracold care, tight monitoring through distribution, clinical housing, and until they are administered to a person with complete efficacy. Hence, to carry out a mass COVID-19 vaccination, public health authorities are set to face a new challenge on two fronts: the ultracold chain compliance requirements (as their current vaccine cold chain is not up to the task) and difficulty expanding the existing supply chain. 

Leveraging emerging technologies like…

Want to keep reading? Check out the full ebook here: The Complete Guide to COVID-19 Vaccine Management.