What role will data play in the management and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines? Various logistics industry observers have painted a clear picture of what the sector is up against, in order to make sure things go smoothly in this generational task.
This means that quite a major task is ahead for healthcare providers, and this will be logistically challenging. Take the U.S. as an example. The outgoing Trump Administration originally predicted that nearly 20 million people would have the coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2020. However, only 3 million had received doses by January 1., 2021 This signifies a need for improvement in the vaccine administration plan across the U.S., with effective data management being key to success.
To gain a perspective as to the complex issues, Digital Journal contacted I wanted to share some commentary from Buno Pati, CEO of Infoworks and partner at Centerview Capital. Pati considers the central importance of data to the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rollout plan.
Pati places data at the center of plans to roll out mass vaccinations, stating: “The management and distribution of COVID vaccine developments will not be successful unless issues with data agility and analytics are resolved in a timely manner.”
Good data requires excellent data analysis, as Pati explains: “Data analytics and data science will play a critical role informing the management and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.”
With the specific point in time that governments are at, Pati recommend: “As we’re entering the deployment stage, data will be the key to managing and distributing the vaccine in a prioritized, equitable, efficient and effective manner.”
While it is tempting to speed things up, Pati offers a note of caution: “Accelerating deployment and delivery will require trustworthy data to inform decision-making and adjustments along the way. Knowing that speed is of the essence, modern automated data management systems will be required to deliver the agility needed.”
