When technology ‘powers’ the vaccine

As COVID-19 vaccination campaigns are being rolled out around the world, technology can play an important role in speeding up vaccination progress, thereby helping more people to access vaccinations. COVID-19 vaccine and soon achieve herd immunity.
Many countries have applied technology in implementing vaccination strategies and achieved positive results.

People get vaccinated against COVID-19. Photo: AFP/VNA In Singapore, technology has really been “powering” to increase the efficiency of vaccine use. Behind every immunization center in Singapore is a vast virtual infrastructure that can capture and categorize each COVID-19 vaccine shot to make the vaccination campaign as effective as possible. Singapore has built integrated solutions to collect and handle data disparities. The system is also flexible to adapt to new cases should Singapore change its COVID-19 vaccination strategy. One of the solutions that Singapore is applying is the development of error detection software. These software can detect errors when people misrepresent personal information during vaccination scheduling before this information is entered into the database and need human correction. Since Singapore launched its COVID-19 vaccination program at an early stage in January, the Integrated Health Information System of Singapore (IHiS) has processed between 4,000 and 5,000 vaccination data per day. . At that time, there were about 200 false declarations every day and all of these errors had to be corrected manually. However, thanks to the software’s continuous improvement, now the number of cases to be corrected is reduced to just 20 per day, while IHiS’s system processes up to 50,000 records per day. In Denmark, technology is used to attract and encourage people to get vaccinated. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark are testing a game with virtual reality technology to educate people about the benefits of vaccination. Users will wear virtual reality glasses, playing the role of an elderly person trying to walk through a crowded square. In this game, the people in the red shirt are infected with COVID-19, while the blue shirts are people who have been vaccinated. Professor Robert Bohm of the University of Copenhagen said that after players experience the virtual reality game for themselves, their intention to vaccinate will be even more motivated. In the United States, several cities and counties in the country, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Newark, are using advanced psychoanalytic technology to help build and expand vaccination programs. These cities have partnered with the company Zencity and the Ash Center of Harvard University’s Kennedy School to study people’s psychology when vaccinating. Through this program, US localities will use Zencity’s tools to collect and analyze citizen feedback from available sources, such as social media posts, online channels, and online channels. local news site. The tool then uses artificial intelligence (AI) to classify and sort the data based on topics, trends, anomalies, and people’s perceptions. Cities will receive a report from Zencity, which includes different demographics about vaccines as well as public sentiment towards the vaccination program. In addition, the report also displays misinformation that may need to be addressed and recommendations on how to communicate the vaccine. This tool is highly appreciated by cities in the US. Deana Gamble, head of communications for the city of Philadelphia, said that thanks to the app, the city government understands that it needs to provide accurate and up-to-date information to those who are still uncertain about the benefits of using the app. vaccinations and how to administer them. Not only does it help speed up vaccination progress, but technology also makes access to a COVID-19 vaccine more equitable for many groups. In Italy, the Lombardy regional government has approved the application of an algorithm developed by scientists to decide who should be given priority to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. A team of scientists from the University of Bicocca in the city of Milan has developed an algorithm that aims to end the controversy over which groups should be given priority to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The researchers divided the patients worst affected by COVID-19 into groups based on age, epidemiological history and many other factors. In addition, a team of experts from the University of Bicocca has also identified 34 conditions and diseases that may increase the risk of contracting COVID-19, including diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anemia and other diseases. blood cancer. “We believe that by vaccinating those most at risk, we can avoid hundreds of intubation and deaths in Lombardy and beyond,” said Professor Giovanni Corrao of the University of Bicocca. all of Italy”. Currently, the Italian Ministry of Health is also considering recommendations for the use of this technology nationwide. If vaccines are considered a powerful weapon for humans against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the above specific examples show that technology, in many different forms, can increase the strength and effectiveness of the virus. this weapon, thereby helping people soon “reach the target” of herd immunity.