In preparation for the Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed (OWS) — which aims to have substantial quantities of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine available for the American public at large by January 2021 — the federal government has put out a national call to connect as many pharmacies as possible to state immunization registries.

Through its partnership with PioneerRx, one of the nation’s top pharmacy management systems, STChealth has eagerly answered OWS’ call using its state-of-the-art program ImmsLink.

Known as the industry leader in providing immunization reporting and bi-directional access, ImmsLink allows PioneerRx users to both send and receive information from state immunization registries.

This ensures that pharmacists will comply with reporting requirements as well as receive imperative patient information, such as immunization history and past-due vaccines.

“The current pandemic has been a call to action across all sectors,” says STChealth CEO Mike Popovich. “OWS has been challenged and tasked with the coordination and facilitation of ‘all things COVID-19 vaccine.’ Enter STChealth.”

Over the past several months, STChealth has been in regular contact with the OWS staff in preparation for the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine.

They have been working closely with them to provide insight on how vaccine delivery and immunization information systems work with an emphasis on how both public health and pharmacy systems can support the infrastructure needed for a successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

In March 2020, STChealth also provided OWS with a comprehensive report detailing the resources, investments and overall approach that would best facilitate a closure of current gaps in patient immunization reporting to state public health departments, as well as how to utilize significant public health assets that exist today.

“In March, we began to focus 110% of our energy on this single cause to ensure that the right person at the right time gets the right vaccine,” Popovich explains. “We followed our own advice to OWS and invested in closing gaps in STChealth’s own products, empowering our public health and pharmacy clients to deliver on the new demands of a new vaccine.”

“To land on the moon it took a team, technology, expertise and those willing to risk,” he adds. “To overcome this pandemic it takes a team, technology, expertise and those willing to take a risk. STChealth has that team and is partnering with everyone from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to your local pharmacy to deliver technology and expertise. We are willing to make the needed investments and take these risks to help the U.S. achieve its goals and attack this pandemic head on.”