COVAX is a state-of-the-art platform owned by the Government of Lebanon that digitises the roll-out of vaccination campaigns. Developed and deployed in Lebanon in 2021 in response to the pandemic, COVAX offers a holistic workflow that covers all phases of vaccination management and integrates all stakeholders throughout. COVAX offers a model for the transparent and fair management of vaccination campaigns. Siren is ready to support other national governments in applying and tailoring this model to their needs.

Roll-out of the vaccination campaign: insights from Lebanon

• 4M+ individuals registered on COVAX

• 2.5M+ individuals registered with at least one dose

• 6,330 lives saved thanks to the digitisation of the vaccine roll-out (based on an AI-analysis)

• 150+ vaccination centres connected to the platform nationwide

Vaccine management system

COVAX is an automated vaccination management system. It digitises the vaccination process from end-to-end, from registration through digital certification. It enables real time information-sharing and monitoring to ensure that vaccines reach prioritised populations in a transparent and effective manner. COVAX is fully scalable and can respond rapidly to emerging needs, while guaranteeing transparency and accountability in the roll-out of vaccination campaigns.

1. Registration: Interested residents can register online for the vaccine, either individually, or with the support of
   an NGO, hospital, clinic, or their local authority. An offline registration application is available to increase outreach to remote areas. Upon registration, a unique identifier is generated and a confirmation SMS is sent to the applicant.

2. Determining Priorities: Applicants are automatically prioritised based on criteria set by the authority e.g. the national government’s vaccination strategy that identified priority groups.

3. Appointment booking: Prioritised applicants are notified by SMS and receive an invitation to book an appointment at their nearest vaccination centre and preferred time. As soon as the appointment is booked, the corresponding vaccination centre is directly notified on the platform.

4. Vaccination: The applicant arrives at the selected vaccination centre for their appointment. A pre-vaccination form with the applicant’s medical information is filled by the immuniser.

5. Reporting of side effects: Upon vaccination, the applicant can report any side effects, which health authorities can monitor and follow up on as needed.

6. E-certificate: Upon vaccination, the platform provides the applicant with access to a digital vaccine certificate with a QR code for validation, which can be downloaded and printed.

A call centre provides direct guidance and support to applicants throughout the process, whether in relation to registering on the platform, editing personal information, rescheduling appointments, or other vaccination-related issues.

Effectiveness, fairness and transparency guaranteed

COVAX brings multiple stakeholders together on a single platform for seamless coordination and collaboration. A set of oversight measures are built into the platform to counter corruption and fraud at various stages of the vaccine supply chain. These include:

• Automatic logging of the vaccine brand and batch number to track supply.

• Interactive analytics dashboards to enable real-time monitoring and auditing of the campaign.

• Public dashboards containing non-confidential, anonymised information, enabling civil society and the media to participate in monitoring.

If fraud attempts are detected, the workflows can be easily optimised to prevent future attempts. Given that all phases of the vaccination campaign are digitised, the platform increases visibility on the vaccine supply chain and allows decision makers to track progress toward heard immunity. Disaggregated breakdowns of vaccination rates can be generated for multiple variables, including age, gender, geographic distribution and high-risk medical conditions.

Data protection and privacy by design

All data collected on COVAX is stored and processed according to strict security and privacy protocols in compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. An independent third-party monitors and audits platform security, while an independent oversight agency audits user activity, checking for suspicious and fraudulent behaviour.

Privacy policies are published on the platform to inform users how their personal information is collected, used, stored, processed and shared. All activities on the system are logged on auditable records. Access rights are managed in line with users’ legal mandates. Only approved system administrators and medical staff are granted access to personal information.

Innovation at its best

Cutting-edge technologies are baked into COVAX, including Artificial Intelligence, Automated Fraud Detection, Optimal Character Recognition, and biometrics. To reach people in remote areas, who often have little to no internet access, COVAX features an offline vaccination application, used by hundreds of NGOs to register unconnected populations.

Owing to the platform’s innovative digital approach, in October 2021, Lebanon’s COVID-19 vaccine certificate (issued on COVAX) received equivalency with the EU’s Digital Covid Certificate (DCC) - a first in the Arab world.

Stakeholders and governance