How can we ensure we vaccinate the Welsh Public safely, effectively and efficiently?
During these unprecedented times, it is more imperative than ever to ensure that the public within Wales are fully vaccinated.
‘NHS Wales each year vaccinate approximately 1 million adults and children from across Wales, including childhood immunisations and Influenza.’
The flu season alone (Sept/April) puts increasing pressure on NHS resources and with the potential of a second wave of COVID-19 during the winter months, it is essential that we ensure the health of the Welsh population is in the best position possible to cope with any further outbreaks.
This year due to the COVID-19 pandemic delivery of these vaccinations will become more of a challenge, due to a wider range of more vulnerable groups (shielded), new social distancing measures, infection control, and the inclusion of the COVID-19 vaccination. A COVID-19 vaccine in the best-case scenario will be delivered rapidly to large numbers of people in alternative venues in the community from this autumn.
Key areas that this challenge are particularly interested to address are:
- Having a flexible range of venues for NHS and social care staff to be vaccinated outside the workplace.
- Delivering vaccines (COVID-19 and/or flu) safely and effectively especially for care home residents and staff.
- Improving accessibility for recommended groups unable to access traditional vaccination venues.
A successful outcome for this challenge would enable us to meet the current vaccination targets (Influenza) and deliver a COVID-19 vaccination safely and effectively to all eligible groups during these difficult times.
We are looking to identify, develop and demonstrate rapid technologies. At the end of the project, systems will be tested and demonstrated in a live trial with NHS Wales.
Innovations must be suitable for rapid deployment within the NHS and ideally, solutions will have wider applicability. Due to the restricted timescale of this challenge informatics solutions will not be considered.
We need ideas that can rapidly be developed and tested with the potential to be scaled and used across the UK starting in July and to complete no later than September 2020.
Contact
For more information about the challenge, please visit the SBRI Centre of Excellence website.
