COVID-19 vaccination data management and visualization systems for improved decision-making: Lessons learnt from...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Informatics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated robust systems for tracking vaccine distribution and administration.
• Real-time data is crucial for effective public health response and decision-making during widespread vaccination campaigns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a continental COVID-19 vaccination tracking system for Africa.
• To facilitate data-driven decision-making for public health officials at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Main Methods:

• Development of a continental COVID-19 vaccination tracking system utilizing the DHIS2 platform.
• Inclusion of key variables related to COVID-19 vaccination.
• Creation of role-based access for 350 users and development of four high-level summary dashboards for leadership.

Main Results:

• The DHIS2 system enables real-time tracking of vaccine distribution and administration.
• Dashboards provide essential visualizations for monitoring continental COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
• The system supports timely decision-making by Africa CDC staff based on program implementation data.

Conclusions:

• The developed continental tracking system effectively supports monitoring of COVID-19 vaccine uptake and related metrics.
• Lessons learned from this initiative can be applied to other public health events of continental and global concern.
• The system enhances the ability to provide context on continental vaccination coverage and influencing factors.