Global CRM leader Salesforce has launched their new Vaccine Cloud technology to help governments, healthcare organizations, businesses, and nonprofits scale vaccine administration programs. The announcement, released on January 27, 2021, comes on the heels of increased efforts to distribute approved COVID-19 vaccines globally. 

Salesforce said the platform can help “design, build and manage vaccine programs at scale quickly on the Salesforce Customer 360 platform, including mobility solutions, bots, analytics and integration capabilities, and more.”

The road to global COVID-19 vaccination

While it’s been nearly two months since the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines were approved for the general public in multiple countries, the vaccine rollout has been stagnated by poor vaccine program management, limited government guidance, and overburdened public health systems. Salesforce’s Vaccine Cloud is one innovation that can support public health efforts to scale vaccine distribution.

Source: Our World in Data

Looking at the latest numbers from Our World in Data, it’s clear that multiple countries around the world have fumbled the COVID-19 vaccine rollout so far. The global death toll has exceeded two million, and healthcare agencies are still struggling to make use of their vaccines before they waste. Put simply, the global vaccination effort will be one of the most demanding logistic and operational undertakings in modern history.

How can technology help scale vaccination programs?

Built off the Salesforce Customer 360 platform, Vaccine Cloud helps government and public health agencies connect disparate data systems to monitor community health needs and make data-driven decisions for their vaccine rollout, ensuring all patient data is tracked in one central platform. 

For healthcare providers, the Cloud streamlines inventory management, insurance payment and reimbursement, staff training, and external communications to patients for scheduling first and second vaccine doses. For businesses, key features include simplified registration and scheduling for vaccine appointments, access to educational materials about vaccines, and health and vaccination status updates to help employers and venue managers safely coordinate reopening their offices and spaces.

Vaccine Cloud is the latest technological answer to ease the immense burden that government and healthcare agencies face in developing, administering, and monitoring a successful vaccine program. Earlier last week, ServiceNow also announced their Vaccine Administration Management product to help these organizations tackle the complex challenge of vaccinating the world’s population. 

Salesforce president and COO, Bret Taylor, said, “The biggest challenge the world faces right now is orchestrating the distribution of billions of vaccine doses. Technology can play a critical role in ensuring it’s done efficiently, effectively, and equitably.”

At a smaller scale, governments, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits use tools such as population health management software and human services software to coordinate the various moving parts that go into managing community health efforts. Technology reduces administrative burden and allows public health workers to focus more on delivering quality healthcare experiences.

Platforms like the Vaccine Cloud and Vaccine Administration Management have the potential to dramatically improve the rate at which public and private sector organizations can scale vaccine efforts. From tasks like contact tracing, vaccine dose ordering, and patient outcome monitoring, these types of technological innovations bring much-needed automation and task management to help carve a path through the initial chaos that has been the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

Can technology help avoid the next pandemic?

It’s no secret that the public sector has been slow to embrace digital transformation. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the consequences of not prioritizing technology as an integral part of maintaining positive outcomes for citizens. As vaccine efforts need to be coordinated at the local, state, and national levels, it’s important that agencies use the proper tools. Such tools should reduce confusion, prioritize data collection, and ultimately help gain more control over the administrative operations that have, so far, embarrassingly left many governments scrambling to distribute vaccines to the general population.