Vaccine scheduling: maximizing your volunteers and resources

As the world embarks on the largest scheduling operation in human history, it’s all hands on deck to assist with the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Countries, states and provinces are in the midst of figuring out how best to deliver the vaccination to their populations in a way that is:

• safe
• efficient
• scalable

We have had the privilege of collaborating with multiple states in the US, parts of Canada, and other countries to support vaccination operations through high capacity scheduling in order to meet  all of these requirements.

Scheduling is essential

The Governor of California recently announced their vaccine initiative and shared that Skedulo will work with Salesforce and Accenture to schedule vaccination appointments  and support frontline workers involved in the roll out.

The state’s My Turn system makes it easy for people to check their eligibility to receive a vaccination  and then book an appointment.

Meanwhile, in a presentation by the CDC, it was noted that scheduling will play an essential role in ensuring a safe and effective COVID vaccine administration program. Staffing at vaccination sites is another critical element named in the presentation – and one that will require a little help from people in the community to make work.

Calling all volunteers

The call has been put out for volunteers (including retired nurses, doctors and other medical staff) to assist with frontline efforts in rolling out the vaccine.

This includes workers that may be needed to direct traffic, check in patients, provide security, and more.

It’s an intelligent way to invite people to help their communities move past COVID-19, and speed up the delivery process to ensure those who need the vaccine most get it as fast as possible.

However, as with any huge staffing operation and particularly those involving volunteers, the challenge is to manage these resources effectively and get the right people in the right place at the right time.

Maximizing volunteer resources using Skedulo

Skedulo has been working with state and local governments in the US as well as governments internationally to assist with and plan for the vaccine roll out.

For people who are getting the vaccine, Skedulo allows vaccine recipients to check eligibility, schedule their appointment, and check in on the day.

But Skedulo also takes the pain out of managing huge volumes of frontline workers, and optimizing the availability of volunteers. Skedulo’s Volunteer Scheduling solution can be made available to volunteers so that they may: embedded into any volunteer registration website, where volunteers can:

• register their interest
• select locations they would like to volunteer to work at
• enter their skills, role, and contact information
• choose shifts that meet their availability

This applies whether the volunteer wants to take on a single shift, multiple shifts, or accept as many shifts as possible.

Using Skedulo to remove barriers such as registration difficulties and a lack of flexibility in choosing shifts will absolutely help drive more volunteer involvement and engagement. In turn, this will lead to higher vaccination numbers and faster completion of the vaccine roll out - helping to protect everyone in our communities and facilitate a speedier return to normality.

To learn more about how Skedulo’s high capacity scheduling  and volunteer scheduling solutions can assist with the effective management of your volunteer workforce, simply book a free demo.