mVacciNation – Vaccine distribution digital toolbox
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact all African Union (AU) Member States, Vodacom, AUDA-NEPAD and Mezzanine are committed to supporting African society during and after this period of profound uncertainty. The mVacciNation digital toolbox will help AU member states to effectively manage their COVID-19 vaccine delivery programmes, and post-pandemic, can be used to support broader public health system strengthening initiatives, including child immunisation programmes and the delivery of essential medicines.
mVacciNation has two core components and a control tower, to ensure people get the right vaccine, at the right place and time. A supply chain component provides real-time information for health workers of all available vaccines and medical equipment (like syringes and supplies) nationally. A beneficiary management component allows individuals to register on the platform and assigns them to vaccine service points on a specific day and time. A 'control tower' allows for the orchestration of stock to specific vaccination centres.
Each time someone is vaccinated their digital record is updated and, if a further dose is required, mVacciNation automatically schedules and sends a follow-up date via SMS. Once vaccination is completed, the individual will receive electronic certification. Countries can link mVacciNation into their choice of temperature controlled supply chain (cold-chain), drug safety (pharmacovigilance) and vaccination travel passport platforms.
The mVacciNation modules are provided across the member states as network agnostics, open architecture, and software as service solutions, with the aim of leveraging existing infrastructure and legacy system landscapes in the countries of deployment.
South Africa is the first country that has started to invest in and utilise mVacciNation to support the equitable provision of vaccines for all eligible individuals. The partnership is proud to note that the homegrown Mezzanine mVacciNation platform supports certain functions within the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS), as well as through the Supply Chain Stock Visibility modules. Health workers are to be vaccinated in the first wave of the vaccine roll-out and nearly 279 000 Covid-19 vaccinations have been completed to date.
mVacciNation has also been utilised by the Ministries of Health in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Nigeria as they have sought to increase immunisation rates in children. Over 1.3 million vaccinations have been recorded in those countries of which 262,000 were children registered and vaccinated supported by mVacciNation.
Vodacom Group, part of Vodafone Group, will work with AUDA-NEPAD to build digital infrastructure to manage vaccinations across up to 55 countries, following successful deployments in South Africa - to manage Covid-19 vaccinations - and in Mozambique, Tanzania and Nigeria - to manage infant inoculations.
The roll-out of mVacciNation, developed by Mezzanine, a member of the Vodacom Group, is the first project in a public-private partnership that has been formed between Vodacom Group and AUDA-NEPAD to boost Africa’s digital transformation and build resilience for the post-Covid world.
Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group, said: “Vodacom has been at the forefront of helping governments where we operate to curb the spread of Covid-19. Making our mVacciNation platform available to all African countries will significantly enhance the continent’s digital health infrastructure for the long-term. Our contribution will improve the capability of African countries in this pandemic and beyond for vaccine distribution, management and surveillance, even in resource-constrained settings."
Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, said: “The response to the Covid-19 crisis has significantly accelerated the adoption of frontier technologies. Africa's booming digital sector offers great opportunities for public-private partnerships to help build resilience in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis and respond to critical continental priorities. As the development agency for the African Union, we act as a channel to connect innovators and governments to roll-out and localise these solutions.”
Once installed, the mVacciNation platform will remain in place to help countries better manage future pandemics and other large-scale health programmes such as infant inoculations.