Deloitte is proud of our work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS)

The challenges posed by the pandemic have required business, government, and public health leaders to work together at incredible speed. One example is the administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

VAMS was originally designed to help CDC and public health officials schedule, track, and report vaccinations for specific groups of essential workers during the first phase of the vaccine rollout. The CDC later expanded the use of VAMS, offering it at no cost to states that did not have their own system in place for the initial phase of vaccinations.

Deloitte provided the technology and resources that enabled CDC to quickly develop VAMS and have it ready on the first day COVID-19 vaccinations were administered in the U.S.

VAMS has proven to be reliable and stable, performing as designed with no unscheduled downtimes since it launched. While a small number of appointments were affected by system issues early in the implementation, we resolved them quickly.

The CDC has engaged us to maintain and operate VAMS and, at their direction, we are continuously enhancing the system to improve the user experience and meet the evolving needs of public health officials. VAMS is now being used to schedule appointments in-person at a clinic or over-the-phone through a state call center; a personal computer and access to the internet is no longer required.

We share the frustration of those who had difficulty finding appointments and those whose appointments were cancelled due to vaccine shortages. More than 9.7 million COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered through VAMS and that total increases daily as more doses become available.

We are proud to support the largest public health campaign in our nation’s history to help end the COVID-19 pandemic so that our families and communities can recover and thrive.

“The VAMS platform is the right balance of technology excellence and high reliability in vaccine administration management. We can’t underestimate the value of VAMS. Our ability to vaccinate over 80% of the allocated inventory speaks to the product’s capacity to help providers better manage health care delivery across the recipient’s vaccine journey.”

                         - Director of Nursing Operations in Connecticut

Following are some frequently asked questions about VAMS:

1. Why was VAMS built?

• VAMS was built at the request of the CDC. The system was designed to help CDC and jurisdictions track the distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines to specific groups of essential workers during the first phase of vaccinations.
• The original VAMS was an invitation-only system, administrated through employers and organizations, to support Phase 1A vaccine recipients.

2. How has VAMS evolved?

• To support early phase vaccinations, the CDC made VAMS available at no cost to states that did not have their own systems in place, or the time or resources to do so quickly.
• Some jurisdictions always intended to use VAMS just for the initial phase of vaccinations and then migrate to their own Immunization Information Systems, while other jurisdictions are now using VAMS for future vaccine phases.
• The use of VAMS for multiple phases of vaccine distribution was not originally envisioned and VAMS has been enhanced, at the direction of the CDC, to support states’ new uses of the system.

3. How is VAMS being used today?

• Health care providers are using VAMS to manage inventory, as well as track, administer and report vaccinations to state and local public health organizations.
• Vaccine recipients are using VAMS to locate and schedule appointments, complete prescreening questionnaires, and receive reminders about their second dose on their mobile device, tablet or PC.
• State and local public health organizations and clinicians are using VAMS to support, report and monitor vaccine administration and coverage across a geography or jurisdiction, manage providers’ inventory of vaccines, and access data for critical analysis and reporting.

4. How did Deloitte develop VAMS?

• The foundation for VAMS is a proven, commercially available, and highly scalable technology platform that is widely used in both public and private sector healthcare environments.
• We enhanced the platform with Deloitte’s proprietary GovConnect solution so that VAMS meets all necessary government security standards, including Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) certification.
• Deloitte used a collaborative process to develop the tool, known as agile development, which allows for continuous updates and enhancements based on user feedback.