Solutions from Qualtrics and SAP Vaccine Collaboration Hub (VCH) have been utilised by Okinawa City in Japan to help manage the COVID-19 vaccination of its citizens.
According to The Japan Times, local governments around the country are now following in the footsteps of the national government in establishing additional mass vaccination sites in an effort to speed up the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. A recent Kyodo News poll has found that 28 prefectures and major cities, including Aichi, Fukuoka, and Okinawa, as well as the city of Kobe, have either planned to set up or are considering opening large-scale vaccination facilities.
To help track the city’s progress in real time as well as manage the logistical aspects of the vaccination of thousands of its residents, Okinawa City has selected solutions from Experience Management (XM) provider Qualtrics and SAP VCH — the software giant’s vaccination support platform which has since been used by the city in early May.
The Qualtrics Vaccine Management + Citizen Experience solution included in SAP VCH assists governments — from state and local to national — in prioritising who gets vaccinated, gauging sentiment about immunisation to encourage greater adoption, scheduling vaccinations, and tracking patients after the vaccine has been administered for any adverse reactions and follow-ups.
Satoru Kumashiro, Managing Director at Qualtrics Japan, said in a LinkedIn post:
“We are so pleased to support the vaccination process for Okinawa City and its citizens leveraging Qualtrics XM. We integrate with LINE AiCall and OCR locally to make reservation, scanning printed coupon from government when checking in at the site, record of vaccination, and capturing any symptoms after the shots all in one location.”
“Hope we can continue to support faster and smooth vaccination to the rest of the citizens to get out from this pandemic crisis,” Kumashiro further said.
Okinawa City Selects Qualtrics and SAP Solutions to Manage Residents’ Vaccination
After the 26th of May, Okinawa City residents will be able to book vaccination appointments online, over the phone, or using the automated calling feature of LINE AiCall — a Japanese messaging app. All appointments are controlled on a unified platform, allowing the city to secure the required number of staff for each immunisation day.
Qualtrics XM and SAP VCH solutions also assist in managing other COVID-19 vaccination processes such as:
- Verification of a person’s identity at the vaccination facility by scanning their vaccination ticket with a dedicated tablet at the site.
- Management of records by scanning residents’ tickets after the vaccine has been administered. The information is instantly displayed on an Okinawa City dashboard, allowing the city to track immunisation in real time. The data will also be incorporated in the government’s Vaccination Record System (VRS).
- Scheduling a second vaccination appointment immediately after their initial appointment. Residents will receive a reminder for the second immunisation through LINE AiCall and email three days prior to the appointment.
- Monitoring of side effects through a web-based questionnaire that vaccinated residents are asked to fill out. The results of the survey will be used by Okinawa City to track its vaccination progress, with information shared publicly as needed.
Moreover, Qualtrics and SAP have been leveraging the latest technologies to develop emergency response communications platforms since the start of the pandemic.
Last year, the SAP APJ Innovation Office launched the Bridge-IT app, an open-source tool that equips employees with up-to-date information about COVID-19 and accurate guidance on how to deal with the pandemic. The platform was built using SAP Qualtrics Surveys, SAP Cloud Platform, SAP HANA, and SAP Analytics Cloud, as well as SAP Conversational AI technologies.
