The technology industry is throwing away considerable resources to help get vaccines to millions of Americans amid an alarming upward spiral in COVID-19 cases.
From Microsoft Corp. MSFT,
in Seattle to International Business Machines Corp. IBM,
In Armonk, NY, technology companies across the country offer expertise in tackling a logistics task that some compare to landing on the moon.
“This is the biggest data puzzle in our lives,” which requires collaboration between technology companies and federal and state authorities, Jason Kelley, IBM’s general manager of blockchain services, told MarketWatch. “This is a team sport.”
For technology, the distribution of vaccines is an opportunity and a challenge. The industry sees a chance to polish its credentials, while meeting an urgent social need, amid criticism for failing to pursue large projects that profoundly improve people’s lives. But the ambitious implementation is fraught with risks, as illustrated by potential security breaches in open access systems, faulty programming and some fraudulent accounts.
In Florida, which reported nearly 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, online ticketing service Eventbrite Inc. EB is working with counties to help schedule immunization for Floridians 65 and older, while the state faces serpentine lines, confusion and disappointment. Some fake Eventbrite accounts have emerged, however, as a worrying development for the future of using such services for vaccine distribution.
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“Our team investigated and found no evidence that malicious vaccine registration events were created,” the Eventbrite spokesman told MarketWatch. “The unofficial event listings we found, some of which charge a fee, are probably the result of a user error, in which people mistakenly create new event logs instead of signing up for a while.”
What technology does is not a small thing. US Digital Response, an organization that pairs volunteers with technical knowledge with state and local governments in need of technical assistance, highlighted eight key areas for COVID-19 vaccine providers that include confirming patient eligibility, reporting data to the system. information on state immunization and vaccine inventory management.
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“The technical verification for a state or county takes time. It takes the eye of an engineer to know which provider to use for a project, ”Raphael Lee, director of the USDR’s health program, told MarketWatch. His organization helped Seattle and King County find a vendor, Solv, to set up test sites.
A wide range of companies in recent days have presented their plans for the vaccine.
IBM provides governments and private companies with supply chain management software and open blockchain technology to record and authenticate the temperature and handling of each vaccine dose. The IT giant is also expanding the availability of IBM Digital Health Pass, the company’s new health passport application, with the help of Salesforce.com Inc. CRM,
to help organizations verify a person’s vaccine status and any other relevant health credentials.
In addition to its partnership with IBM, Salesforce is partnering with global vaccination agency Gavi on its project to equitably distribute the vaccine in 190 countries. Salesforce is also part of a project with MTX consultant for Chicago to manage the distribution of vaccines.
Read: How to convince your family members to get the COVID-19 vaccine
Google GOOGL at Alphabet Inc.,
GOOG,
says its cloud unit has expanded its pandemic response to support intelligence and vaccine distribution and is working with partners to implement vaccine management solutions with state and local governments.
“Google Cloud has expanded our response to the pandemic to help us with vaccine information, and we’re working with partners to implement vaccine management solutions with state and local governments,” said a Google spokeswoman. “Google helps connect people with quality information and resources about COVID-19, including vaccines, and we’re working on additional products and features to help people get the right information at the right time.”
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Oracle Corp. ORCL,
donated to the federal government a national database of electronic health records and public health management applications that can be used to track who has been vaccinated and who could have potential side effects. Oracle intends to bring similar systems to Africa by joining the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
Microsoft Corp. MSFT,
works with Ernst & Young and others on vaccine management efforts powered by Microsoft’s cloud and business services. The end-to-end solution helps manage the vaccine manufacturing and distribution process in real time. The EY vaccine management solution is built on Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, Power BI and Power Platform, according to Microsoft.
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Uber Technologies Inc. UBER,
and Lyft Inc. LYFT,
offers to help inoculate more Americans, and Uber has partnered its ride service with vaccine maker Moderna Inc. MRNA,
to work with public health agencies to schedule walks for those eligible for doses, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Lyft executives have clashed with the new Biden administration over the allocation of federal funds for vaccine-related transportation.
In December, DoorDash Inc. DASH,
sent a letter to Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and national leaders, urging them to consider prioritizing workers who deliver in their vaccine distribution plans.
“Dashers have been at the forefront every day, providing essential services to support communities and small businesses across the country throughout the pandemic,” DoorDash’s global head of public policy, Max Rettig, said in a December 7 letter. . We are actively engaging with public and federal health officials to help ensure these vital delivery workers have access to vaccines at the earliest opportunity.