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Home Uncategorized AMA

As West Africa Starts Vaccine Rollout, What Role Should Technology Play?

metro by metro
May 5, 2021
in AMA, Analysis
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After more than a year of lockdowns and disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, African countries are preparing for the most ambitious vaccine rollout in human history.

All eyes are now on the ability of countries to secure, import and distribute the vaccines effectively. This will require investment into local supply chains and a concerted effort by governments and health organisations to build trust with local populations to ensure every person that needs a vaccine is able to receive one.

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In late February, Ghana became the first country in the world to receive a shipment of vaccines from the Covax initiative when 600 000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived. Telco operator MTN Group donated a further 165 000 doses and the Indian government 50 000 more, but the country will need significantly more to adequately cover its 31 million citizens.

In early March, Nigeria followed when it received 3.9 million doses. The country plans to vaccinate 40% of its citizens by the end of 2021, and 70% by the end of 2022. An e-registration portal has been made available where all persons 18 years and older are able to register in the government’s attempt at an efficient and orderly scheduling of vaccination when more doses are available in the country.

However, immense challenges remain to sufficiently vaccinate the country’s more than 200 million citizens. In fact, the entire region has much work to do to build trust, enhance local and regional supply chains, effectively engage citizens and implement an effective vaccination rollout.

Building trust through citizen engagement, supply chain enhancements

Details are still scarce around how precisely the vaccine rollout will be implemented in West Africa. A recent study found high levels of hesitancy and low levels of trust in the vaccination plans of five West African countries: only 31% of respondents said they trust their government ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’ to ensure the vaccine is safe before it is offered to citizens.

Governments need high participation rates from citizens if their vaccine rollouts are to be successful. This requires that they increase trust with citizens by understanding citizen sentiment throughout the rollout and then quickly respond to and manage any issues that arise.

The scale of governments’ vaccination rollouts is unprecedented, which means that current systems and processes are too slow and inflexible to facilitate the vaccination rollout at scale. When one considers the complexities of phased rollouts, multiple doses, and reporting, it is essential that governments leverage technology to streamline data collection, transfer and analysis to speed up rollouts.

At a supply chain level, the distribution and administration of vaccines at the scale of COVID-19 is a monumental challenge. There is much at stake because disruptions in the supply chain can prevent the delivery of the vaccine and further impact public trust.

Delays are paid for with human lives and push out the prospect of herd immunity. Reacting quickly to unexpected interruptions is key and is only possible if the entire supply chain, from procurement to production and delivery, is managed end-to-end.

According to the World Health Organisation’s Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment Tool, African countries have an overall score of only 33% preparedness for rolling out vaccines to their populations.

Bolstering the supply chain and building trust with citizens will be crucial to the effective vaccination of populations in the West Africa region.

How tech can support vaccine rollout in West Africa

Emerging, emerged and established technologies all have a role to play in the region’s efforts at vaccination. For example, trying to identify which people require vaccines with some attempt at prioritisation could leverage data, data mining, data science and patient segmentation based on various demographic, risk profiling and patient history information.

To track vaccine distribution across the region, a combination of technologies including blockchain, analytics, integrated scanners, location tracking tags and mobile apps could provide a framework to show relevant subsets of information to different supply chain stakeholders.

In terms of patient engagement, self-service appointment booking, customer experience platforms and patient feedback capture using apps and non-contact in-clinic kiosks can help to determine how well practitioners are fulfilling their duty. Similar platforms can be leveraged to focus on employee experience, offering insight into the mental wellbeing of frontline healthcare practitioners and reducing the risk of burnout.

Looking ahead, machine learning and streaming analytics could help identify irregular patterns in data that talk to issues within procurement, production, logistics or financial audits. IoT, 5G, LoRa (Long Range networks) and edge computing allows a vast array of use cases to be realised, where sensors can determine the conditions in which stock is being made, stored or shipped, and to allow critical response to be actioned before major incidents arise.

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unprecedented challenges to the world, and West Africa is no exception. As the region readies itself for the vital process of vaccine distribution, it is critical that there are no unwarranted delays or disruptions. This will also give citizens the confidence that the medicines they are getting are safe and efficient. Technology can play a valuable supporting role to ensure West Africa’s vaccine rollout is a success.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of SAP Africa.

Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews.

About SAP
SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP® system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

# # #
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
© 2020 SAP SE. All rights reserved.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.

Titilayo Adewumi, Regional Sales Director: West Africa at SAP
NAIROBI, Kenya, 5 May, 2021

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