Digitization, Green Pass and data to Pfizer: Israel’s secrets to return to post-Covid normality
This is how the digital model applied by Israel to fight the pandemic works.
If in Italy we are about to experience the second Easter in semi-lockdown from Israel , the images of a life come that resumed almost as before the covid nightmare. Israel, with a population of just under 9 million people, managed to fully vaccinate about 1/3 of its population in three months and inoculate a total of 7,132,468 doses of the vaccine.
The strengths of the Israeli vaccination campaign
These results were achieved thanks to the immediate availability of large doses of vials , the result of an agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech, a widespread diffusion of vaccination centers and the digitalization of the Israeli health system.
The role of the mutual funds
The vaccination campaign relied on Hmos (Health Maintenance Organizations), the four non-profit mutual funds financed by the state to which citizens can subscribe . "Israel has a widespread network of health care providers, health insurance companies, spread across every neighborhood of Israeli cities," explained Arnon Shahar , head of Israel's vaccine plan. These health facilities have proved to be fundamental in the fight against the epidemic and in the administration of treatments and vaccines.
The logistics
One of the strengths of the Israeli vaccination campaign is its logistics. Two large call centers are active, in order to guarantee assistance to both citizens and health professionals. Everything is digitized and managed exclusively electronically. "Vaccines originate from a large central hub run by the state – said Dr. Shahar – and the doses are distributed on a local scale ”.
The digitalization of the health system
Another Israeli excellence is the digitalization of the health system. The databases of the Mutual Funds are entirely digital , this allowed a quick identification of the categories that had priority for receiving the anti-Covid drug. The notification of the reservation of the first and second dose arrives via the app, but citizens who do not have them are contacted directly at home. “We have proposed these systems also in Italy – said Ambassador Eydar during a webinar of the“ Rebuilding ”association -. It is easy to summon citizens to have them vaccinated as well as to follow them for the recall ”. A "high and low tech" approach that aims to reach more people in the shortest possible time.
Arnon Shahar: "We pushed on the digitization of our mutual funds"
“We didn't invent anything – said Arnon Shahar in an interview with IlGiornale.it -, we used the systems at our disposal and improved them. We have pushed for the digitization of our mutual funds ”. Israeli citizens found themselves in dialogue with applications and computer systems already known and widely used. “Once vaccinated, they were recorded on a tablet provided to the healthcare professionals, these data were then transferred to the patient's digital medical record and then to the central state level – continued Shahar -. By centralizing and synchronizing data we know who was vaccinated and where. In this way we can issue green licenses that restore a minimum of normality ".
The vaccination license to return to normal
But the real breakthrough for Israel is coming now. Citizens vaccinated with two doses and those who have contracted and passed the disease can have a vaccination license, a Green Pass , which allows them access to cinemas, theaters, restaurants and football stadiums. “The vaccination passport is a document that allows freer circulation – continues Dr. Shahar -. The vaccinated, one week after the second dose, can apply for the Green Pass on the website of the Ministry of Health . Just enter your data on the Ministry website, these data are synchronized with those of the Mutual Fund where you were vaccinated. In this way, a document is issued, also in English, a green license that can be used to access restaurants, stadiums and hotels ".
The granting of Israeli health data to Pfizer
The Israeli Ministry of Health has signed an agreement with Pfizer whereby all vaccination results, including details, will be shared with the pharmaceutical company. The Government has ensured that Pfizer is provided with only general statistics but not personal data. The agreement was possible because Israel is considered one of the countries with the greatest capacity to find and process health data. Since the early 2000s, every medical examination, test, prescription and medical procedure for users of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) has been stored in computer databases. These databases were established to provide physicians with complete and up-to-date access to patient medical records . But during the 2000s, HMOs also started using this data to improve the service they provide to their customers. “The data made available concern the number of patients, side effects, people admitted to hospital after the second dose of the vaccine – said the head of the vaccine plan -. These are the data we are talking about ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/digitalizzazione-green-pass-e-dati-a-pfizer-i-segreti-di-israele-per-tornare-alla-normalita-post-covid/ on Sat, 20 Mar 2021 18:29:46 +0000.