Microsoft playing pivotal role in Victoria’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Microsoft has been working actively with the Victorian Government since January to provide an end-to-end vaccine management solution for Victoria.

"It's hard to overstate the complexities that surround Australia's COVID-19 vaccination program – but it's critical we get this right," says Steven Worrall, managing director, Microsoft Australia.

"States and territories are all navigating the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) guidelines about vaccines and patient eligibility; clinicians are tackling logistics around access to supplies while managing patients' expectations and questions; the general public wants transparency, efficiency and peace of mind," he says.

Worrall says the solution helps multiple facets of the vaccine rollout.

"For clinicians, an app manages all the complex variables automatically – freeing them to do their job. For people booking in, it's simple to use and straightforward, and it assures transparency regarding eligibility," he says.

In the first week since the last lockdown, more than 65,000 Victorians have booked appointments online.

"Our vaccination solution has been designed to help ensure the safe, efficient and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, the solution has delivered over 1 million vaccines across Victoria's population of approximately 7 million people and has been pivotal in supporting vaccine deployment in a range of settings, including outreach to frontline workers, priority cohorts, mobile vaccination teams, mass vaccination hubs and hospital-run vaccination clinics," Worrall says.

The solution has also allowed the Department of Health to engage with citizens across SMS, email, online and via a contact centre.

"The solution has helped Victoria optimise citizen experience throughout registration, vaccination and adverse event follow-up, and supported the Department and health services to coordinate vaccine logistics and undertake phased scheduling of clinics based on highly complex supply and demand patterns," he says.

Helping to ensure these steps can be done safely and transparently by using advanced analytics and in-built reporting capabilities, the solution also provides enhanced follow up for those vaccinated. Importantly, this same information is made available to clinicians at the time of vaccination through a Power App in real time.

"A true single view of the data means that clinicians can make informed choices ensuring Victorians get the right vaccine at the right time based on the latest patient data and clinical guidance," says Worrall.

"The solution's reporting functionality has enabled vaccination data to be integrated with other COVID-19 data systems in the department's Azure platforms as well as with the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) for national reporting and validation of vaccination status."

Microsoft's secure, Australia-hosted cloud technologies form the digital foundations, helping to protect Victorians' critical health data.

"To support the Department's goal of efficient, equitable and safe delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, we have leveraged an array of Microsoft technologies," says Worrall.

"These include Power Apps, Dynamics 365 and Power BI as well as a range of Azure Services.

"We are proud to be partnering with the Victorian Department of Health on this mission-critical work. Microsoft and our other partners are committed to helping Australia and the global community to navigate and, ultimately, overcome the challenges of the pandemic."