Data-Driven Approach to Vaccine Distribution
New Year brought a big-relief with with most awaited news of a nod to Vaccine Distribution in India. What a Relief!
As the world starts getting vaccinated for COVID-19, some pertinent questions regarding it’s distribution becomes relevant.
In country like India the distribution of Vaccine for 1.3 billion people with limited resource becomes a daunting task. However, the use of Data-Driven approach can make the task easier.
Not Just India, but the governments around the world targeted healthcare and frontline workers first, to receive the vaccine which is a decision aided by Data. Nevertheless, the elementary role of Data remains optimizing the logistics and prioritizing the access.
The principal issue the authorities are now dealing with is:
“How will it reach everyone?”- The Distribution
Right from procurement, storage, logistic and then administration are the parameters associated with Distribution.
The primary need of vaccine storing facility at a low temperature that cannot be allocated on a need per-basis is the major concern which can lead to misallocation which in turn will lead to lack of resources in some places and wastage in others.
India’s Vaccine management is currently managed by electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network(eVIN) which is implemented in 32 states.
There is a tremendous improvement by the authority in terms of supply chain as per their latest release, however it shows certain bottlenecks. Hence Data and IOT can help eVIN identify and resolve the bottlenecks to ensure continuous and efficient vaccine supply.
1) IOT can be used to monitor storage temperatures and alert fluctuations, as the rise in temperature can make the vaccine fatal and can lead to wastage.
2) Data can be used in logistics management to optimize delivery routes and vehicles.
3) Demand forecasting techniques can help ensure the need for vaccine in particular areas in advance as the demand is not unidimensional
4) Lastly, Data can keep track of number of number of people vaccinated in each area. Applications like CO-Win app has also been launched to keep a track of people vaccinated
The immediate question that comes to mind after Distribution is “Allocation/Prioritization: Who gets it when?
Health Ministry of India has said that it will be able to allocate only 300 million COVID-19 vaccine until August 2021.
1) Data Analysis can help identify vulnerable sections of the population that will make the allocation process seamless.
2) Capturing real-time data using B1 tools can help keep a track of survey and study of the samples conducted which can help map out areas or communities that have not yet developed the immunity for COVID-19 and should be prioritized.
3) As the prioritization is based on the vulnerability of the receiver that is determined by the essential occupation, age, and countries around the world, Data can play major role in providing the demographics using advanced and intelligent data visualization tools.
Wrapping up
While data-driven solutions can make the distribution and allocation process more efficient, ensuring the authenticity of the human data collected, transparency of where the data is used and ensuring its privacy is severely crucial.
