The technology industry is investing its considerable resources to help provide vaccines to millions of Americans amid an alarming upward spiral in the cases of COVID-19.
From Microsoft Corp. MSFT,
in Seattle for International Business Machines Corp. IBM,
in Armonk, NY, technology companies across the country are offering expertise to handle a logistical task that some compare to landing on the moon.
“This is the biggest data puzzle of our lives,” requiring collaboration between technology companies and with federal and state officials, Jason Kelley, general manager of blockchain services at IBM, told MarketWatch. “This is a team sport.”
For technology, vaccine distribution presents an opportunity and a challenge. The industry sees a chance to improve its credentials and, at the same time, meet an urgent need of society, amid criticism for failing to carry out major projects that deeply improve people’s lives. But the ambitious deployment is fraught with risks, as illustrated by possible security breaches in open access systems, poor scheduling and some fraudulent accounts.
In Florida, which reported nearly 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, Eventbrite Inc. EB online ticketing is working with counties to help schedule immunizations for Floridians 65 and older, as the state struggles with winding lines, confusion and disappointment. Some fake Eventbrite accounts have, however, emerged a worrying development for the future of using such services for vaccine distribution.
More COVID-19 news: record death toll in the U.S., while experts worry about the spread of the new variant
“Our team investigated and found no evidence of vaccine registration events created for the purpose of malice,” Eventbrite spokeswoman told MarketWatch. “The lists of unofficial events we found, some of which are charging a fee, are probably the result of a user error, in which people are mistakenly creating new lists of events instead of signing up for a time.”
What technology is undertaking is no small feat. US Digital Response, an organization that brings together technology-savvy volunteers with state and local governments in need of technical assistance, outlined eight key areas for COVID-19 vaccine providers that include confirmation of patient eligibility, data reports for the system of state immunization information and inventory management of vaccines.
See also: The US is neglecting this powerful tool to ease the COVID-19 vaccine deadlock.
“Verifying technology for a state or county requires time. You need to look from an engineer to know which supplier to use for a project, ”Raphael Lee, director of the USDR health program, told MarketWatch. His organization helped the city of Seattle and King County find a supplier, Solv, to install test sites.
In the past few days, a wide range of companies have presented their vaccine-related plans.
IBM is offering governments and private companies supply chain management software and open blockchain technology to record and authenticate the temperature and handling of each dose of vaccine. The computing giant is also expanding the availability of the IBM Digital Health Pass, the company’s new health passport application, with the help of Salesforce.com Inc. CRM,
to help organizations check an individual’s vaccine status and any other relevant health credentials.
In addition to its partnership with IBM, Salesforce is joining the global vaccine agency Gavi in its project to distribute the vaccine equitably in 190 countries. Salesforce is also part of a project with the consultant MTX for Chicago to manage the distribution of vaccines.
Read: How to convince family members to get the COVID-19 vaccine
Google GOOGL from Alphabet Inc.,
GOOG,
says his cloud unit has expanded its response to the pandemic to assist with vaccine intelligence and distribution and is working closely with partners to implement vaccine management solutions with state and local governments.
“Google Cloud has extended our response to the pandemic to help with vaccine intelligence and we are working with partners to deploy vaccine management solutions with state and local governments,” said a Google spokeswoman. “Google is helping to connect people with quality COVID-19 information and resources, including vaccines, and we are working on additional products and resources to help provide people with the right information at the right time.”
Technology and coronavirus: CES brings new devices to help prevent the spread of COVID-19
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 may have potential side effects. Oracle intends to bring similar systems to Africa by joining the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
Microsoft Corp. MSFT,
is working with Ernst & Young and others on vaccine management efforts with Microsoft’s cloud and business services. The end-to-end solution helps to 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.
Biden’s pandemic plan: Restore Obamacare, mandatory masks, paid sick leave and free COVID-19 tests
Uber Technologies Inc. UBER,
and Lyft Inc. LYFT,
are offering to help inoculate more Americans, and Uber has combined its ride-call service with vaccine maker Moderna Inc. MRNA,
work with public health agencies to schedule trips for those who can receive doses, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Lyft executives talked to the next Biden government about allocating federal funds for vaccine-related transportation.
In December, DoorDash Inc. DASH,
sent a letter to Robert Redfield, director of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and to governors across the country, urging them to consider giving birth workers priority in their vaccine distribution plans.
“Dashers have been on the frontline every day, providing essential services to support communities and small businesses across the country during the pandemic,” said Max Rettig, global head of public policy at DoorDash, in the December 7 letter. “We are actively engaged with public health officials at the federal and state levels to help ensure that these vital employees have access to vaccines at the earliest possible opportunity.”