COVID-19 vaccines arrived at the culmination of 2020, much to the world’s relief. After a swift approval from the FDA, it made its way across the USA for immediate distribution. However, making the trip from pharmaceutical manufacturing plants to doctors’ offices worldwide has proven to be a logistical challenge, especially for vaccines with strict temperature requirements.
Fortunately, companies have mobilized to optimize the manufacturing and distribution process. As the world is in dire need of billions of COVID-19 vaccination shots as soon as possible, healthcare industry leaders have used technology to expedite the process and make it more efficient. Here are three ways technology is ramping up the efforts to distribute the vaccine:
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Manufacturing Enough Vaccine Shots to Meet the Demand
Many countries are still negotiating with vaccine providers to procure enough doses to inoculate their citizens. However, providers have struggled to meet the demand, given the rigorous process of manufacturing vaccination shots. Decision-makers have thus opted to use automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to make manufacturing more efficient. Pharma and biotech therapeutic companies have reliably used such technology to expedite a vaccine, demonstrating the method’s reliability.
Automation technologies have proven to shorten manufacturing schedules, from testing to delivery, as it speeds up production times and reduced batch review lengths from days to hours. AI has also helped fast-track research and production of many pharmaceutical companies in creating a reliable and safe vaccine, like AstraZeneca and Sanofi.
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Updating Cold Chain Distribution
Most COVID-19 vaccines require temperature-controlled environments when making the trip across the world. Without these environments, pharmaceutical companies lose around $35 billion every year in spoiled, unusable medications. The two COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the US require cold storage, which requires more efficient and updated cold chain distribution.
Logistics experts have worked with Amazon to overhaul cold chain logistics to reduce food waste and achieve a successful COVID-19 vaccine delivery, ultimately providing better healthcare globally. Using Amazon Web services, companies can track the doses’ activity from the manufacturing plant to vaccination clinics. In particular, Carrier’s Lynx platform uses AWS’ machine learning, analytics features, and Internet of Things to improve fleet optimization, logistics performance, and many others. Companies can track the vaccines’ journey with granular precision thanks to such advanced technology.
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Expediting Injection Delivery and Monitoring Doses
Healthcare organizations nationwide have estimated a required $8 billion to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to all Americans, including hiring staff, constructing cold storage facilities, and creating educational materials that promote the shot. One tech company leading the charge to deliver the vaccines is Microsoft Consulting Services, which has worked on over 200 COVID-19 response projects since March 2020. The company recently announced the Vaccine Registration and Administration Solution, which supports the government’s massive distribution effort by employing secure data exchange.
Other tech companies have also assisted in the data entry aspect of distributing the vaccines, using robotic process automation and computer vision to fulfill repetitive administrative tasks in healthcare facilities. Other medical centers have used automation to optimize manual data entry and patient screening activities, making many vital processes more efficient. Since tasks are easy to complete, companies and facilities can track doses more accurately and ascertain how many more are needed to inoculate the remaining population.
Conclusion
Technology has been indispensable in maneuvering the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and ensuring that as many people as possible receive the dose. By leveraging the many advancements made in technology, the healthcare industry can enjoy large-scale vaccine distribution, protecting Americans from the highly contagious disease.
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