“The digital divide can be deadly. That has been the stark lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has revealed how decades of underinvestment in digital infrastructure have left millions of Americans cut off from help during COVID-19. This has prevented many from finding vaccine appointments, it has thwarted efforts to release contact-tracing apps, and now it’s undermining the safety of the vaccine.”
The COVID-19 vaccines have been widely heralded as incredibly safe and effective, far exceeding even the most optimistic hopes for how quickly and effectively we could develop the jab. But given the historic speed with which the vaccines were rolled out, more data is needed. This is why the CDC developed v-safe, a long-term vaccine surveillance program.
“Post-injection surveillance is crucial, not only to monitor for side effects (which are quite rare and mild), but also to remind users about their second dose and monitor how long the vaccines remain effective. The problem is that the CDC made a crucial error, one that could undermine v-safe and lead to blind spots in the data it collects. You see, v-safe requires a smartphone.”
“That may not sound like a big hurdle, but the truth is that at least one in five Americans lacks access to a smartphone. These patients not only lose out on follow-up information, such as second dose reminders, but they also can’t easily record their side effects or report any future COVID-19 diagnosis.”
“When asked for comment, the CDC declined to explain the reliance on smartphones or if it had considered a v-safe interface for those without access to smartphones. CDC officials noted that several additional health reporting systems obtain data on adverse drug events directly from doctors and hospitals, including the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and the Veteran Administration’s Adverse Drug Event Reporting System. However, officials also noted that v-safe serves unique health surveillance functions, such as its registry for pregnant patients who receive a COVID-19 vaccine…” Read the full article here.
Source: The CDC’s v-safe vaccine program leaves out 60 million people – By Albert Fox Cahn and William Owen, March 15, 2021. Fast Company.
