The decentralised Danish healthcare system meant that distributing COVID-19 vaccines needed a different approach. With our help, the Danish Ministry of Health commenced an important journey to ensure a swift and equitable vaccine rollout.
Since it emerged, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down. Governments had to navigate in unknown territory, and society faced seemingly insurmountable challenges. But there was light at the end of the tunnel. By late 2020, vaccines in Denmark were underway – quicker than most could have predicted. And the message from the Danish Government was clear: the vaccines were the way out of the crisis and back to a pre-COVID-19 world.
Authorities and institutions around the country needed to act fast. They had to ensure that when Denmark received the vaccines, the journey from the cooled storerooms to people’s arms would be quick. But this particular vaccine rollout was like no other. It wasn’t possible to simply copy and paste processes and protocols from the yearly influenza vaccine programme. The volume of vaccines, the number of people receiving the shots, and providing the capacity necessary to make sure that vaccines were given to those who needed them the most required a different approach.
“The COVID-19 vaccination programme is one of the biggest organisational feats of Danish healthcare history. Close collaboration between the state and institutions at a regional and local level is an integral part of the Danish healthcare system. However, the efforts needed for a successful vaccination rollout of this size demanded collaboration on a whole other level,” remarked Stine Sønderby Bonde, Head of Division, Danish Ministry of Health.
The ministry of health needed particular and prompt expertise on cross-sectoral programme management, workflows and logistics, and Deloitte has delivered professional and timely support to the execution of the Danish vaccination rollout.
Head of Division, Danish Ministry of Health
From the first shot to mass vaccination
With a decentralised Danish healthcare system, there was an urgent need for close collaboration and a joint plan across the state, regions and municipalities to ensure swift and professional execution. The Danish Ministry of Health embarked on a journey with Deloitte to ensure a smooth vaccine rollout, in collaboration with the Danish Health Authority. The entire country was paying close attention and in December 2020, the first Danes got their shots.
Now it was time to upscale and systemise the process even further. This required new collaborative workflows for IT solutions, detailed logistics plans and data tracking, all created with our assistance. We built a new reporting setup using the business intelligence tool, Power BI, strengthening and intensifying the reporting of variables such as who had been invited for vaccination, who had booked a timeslot, and who had gotten their first and second shots. All this made it possible to closely monitor progress and adjust where necessary.
According to Stine Sønderby Bonde, “The Ministry of Health needed particular and prompt expertise on cross-sectoral programme management, workflows and logistics, and Deloitte has delivered professional and timely support to the execution of the Danish vaccination rollout.”
We’ve worked with the entire healthcare system to ensure a smooth vaccination process, with all stakeholders demonstrating an incredible capacity for adjusting to unforeseen circumstances and delivering a new operating model. The result is the successful vaccination of millions of people, enabling society to get back to a more normal state – and important lessons learned, preparing us for possible future pandemics.