RAPID ROLLOUT

Vaccine Distribution in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is the largest public health crisis of our time. It has strained our healthcare system, transformed our supply chains, and altered the way we work and interact. While the development of a vaccine offers us all a sense of relief, for government agencies and healthcare organizations tasked with vaccine administration, many challenges still remain. Namely, “how do we track, operate, and manage the vaccine rollout while ensuring rapid and effective distribution?”

In one state, the Department of Health needed assistance. The state wanted to establish a COVID-19 vaccine management help desk in order to assist providers with crisis response and vaccine administration. The help desk, a Tier-1 call center, would need to provide critically important information related to vaccine storage and management, as well as software and implementation support. As a ServiceNow Elite Partner with over 30 years’ experience building customer service management (CSM) workflows, ECS was in the perfect position to implement a solution.

Implementation Expertise

CSM rollouts normally take months. ECS, however, was able to accelerate that timeline into two weeks. After thoroughly analyzing the state’s administrative requirements, ECS worked around the clock to configure, test, and implement the call center’s customized software platform. Once development was complete, ECS helped train the state’s newly onboarded agents on the ServiceNow platform. By the end of week two, the call center was up and running and the state was able to assist providers as they distributed vaccinations to critical and high-risk populations.

As the rollout continues, ECS is now helping the state efficiently onboard businesses to begin providing COVID-19 testing to their employees. ECS is in the process of expanding the state’s call center capabilities to enable them to accelerate, standardize, and scale the onboarding of new partners to facilitate effective COVID-19 testing.

Improving Efficiency, Ensuring Results

These call centers are only the beginning. As vaccine rollout progresses over the coming months, states and other organizations will continue to face logistical challenges in their work to ensure smooth distribution. Currently, the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson vaccines must be stored within specific temperature ranges in order to prevent degradation. Refrigeration failures, improper storage, and mishandling can all lead to spoilage. States must be able to monitor the vaccine’s temperature and location throughout the distribution process.

With ServiceNow’s Connected Operations, internet of things (IoT), and field service management (FSM) solutions, ECS can help organizations ensure vaccines don’t go to waste. By placing IoT temperature sensors on shipping pallets and deploying custom-tailored tracking software, our experts monitor and remediate operations incidents throughout the distribution process. When a vaccine is compromised or a pallet close to spoilage, ECS can enable ServiceNow to generate case reports, deploy technicians, and enact remediation protocols that prevent degradation and cut down on vaccines lost to waste.

According to the International Air Transport Association, 25 percent of vaccines arrive at their destination degraded due to shipping mistakes. With ServiceNow Connected Operations, CSM, and FSM solutions, ECS helps organizations overcome these operational challenges, enabling them to meet their ultimate goal: fast, efficient, and effective vaccine distribution.