Digital imprint of the vaccination program: Dr. RS Sharma

The 28th Dataquest Digital Leadership Conclave 2021 commenced this morning. Pradeep Gupta, CMD, Cybermedia, welcomed the guests. There is a distinguished line of speakers at the event. The theme of the event is: New world order: Time for tech to shine!

The ICT industry is at crossroads today. There are new definitions of industry, social, etc., fabrics of the world. ICT is now going to be the key for every business. Everything has to be built around technologies. It is all about data, cloud, deep tech, etc., across all segments. The interactions we will have today will paint a new picture of the world.

Dr. R S Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority, delivered the keynote on the digital imprint of the vaccination program. He shared the experiences from the Covid-19 platform. India is a large, diverse country. Any system that has to cater to a large vaccination program, it cannot it all on its own. There are two doses of the vaccination. We have to remind the person of the doses. He/she needs to be given the same dose the second time. People find it difficult to keep a record.

The system is also portable. The next schedule should be such that it takes care of the vaccination program. The system has got to be inclusive. Not everybody can use the digital platform. The system has to cater to the diverse population. The system should be very easy to operate. It should only use the mobile number. Everybody in the country does not have a smartphone. So, we have allowed four people to be registered via one smartphone. The system needs to be robust and scalable. We also published the open APIs so that people could connect with the system. We have made Aarogya Setu app as a partner. That increased the reach and inclusivity.

We also made it possible for policy makers to plan the vaccination strategy. You can see the Covid-19 dashboard very easily. Newer rules also get incorporated into the system. We started with people over 60 years. Then, it came down to between 45-60 years. We are ensuring that all the changes are being incorporated. The platform does four things. Registration and scheduling. It does not bind you a particular place. The other module is for the hospitals and other facilities who have to publish a time table that people can book. Lastly, there is the vaccination module. You get information like who vaccinated, the name of the person, the vaccine, etc. You are given a provisional, and later, a final certificate.

You can connect with the platform using a third-party app. People can get instant digital certificate. The platform is available in 12 languages. We also need identity documents to verify who is getting vaccinated, and at what age. You have choice and time of location. The vaccination has a time-defined module. Registrations are also being showed on the platform. We also have the advese effects post the vaccination. So, we have given 30 minutes break post the vaccination. The program evaluates the geographical coverage.

This is the world's platform that has scaled upto 400 million people in about six months. We have 200,000 vaccination centers. We are getting millions of hits on the platform. We recorded 3.1 billion hits in a single day, April 28. India using a technology backbone has been very good. We are embedding passport numbers on the certificates. On July 5, there was a digital conclave on Covid-19 where over 140 countries participated. Our PM said we should open source the program. The countries are now coming forward. They will get help with their vaccination programs.