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home / 世界杯决赛2022

ott. company built successful vaccine booking systems, now working with local businesses

“knowing who is vaccinated in workplaces will be key to protecting employees and customers as more people return to in-person work.”

by elizabeth payne

nov 10 2021
read time 2 minute read
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company built vaccine booking systems, working with local businesses
canimmunize ceo dr. kumanan wilson. errol mcgihon / postmedia
an ottawa company that built successful covid-19 vaccination booking systems for nova scotia and other provinces is now turning its expertise to helping companies manage a safe return to the office.
canimmunize will begin that work in ottawa.
the company is working with invest ottawa and bayview yards to launch a new digital tool aimed at helping employers keep track of workers’ vaccination status and updated pandemic protocols as they return to work.
“knowing who is vaccinated in workplaces will be key to protecting employees and customers as more people return to in-person work,” said dr. kumanan wilson, a scientist and physician who is ceo of canimmunize.
the new system, called canimmunize shield, collects vaccination records while maintaining safety and privacy, encourages vaccine uptake and tracks vaccination rates among employees, the company says.
in an interview, wilson said the software could help prevent outbreaks by predicting individual immunity and creating “heat maps” to track workers who are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated and may be at risk. that could, eventually, include people who have had two doses of a covid-19 vaccine, but not a booster shot and whose immunity has waned.
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wilson said his company anticipated the challenges of returning to work and the need for solutions to track vaccination rates in the workplace. a key target of the system, he said, is the kind of businesses that have been most at risk of outbreaks throughout the pandemic — including manufacturing and warehouses.
it is initially being rolled out at the tech innovation hub at bayview yards, which provides services and support to entrepreneurs and companies. more than 100 people there are currently using the tool as part of their return to the office.
“we are committed to keeping the entrepreneurs, companies and community we serve healthy and safe during and beyond the pandemic,” said michael tremblay, president and ceo of invest ottawa and bayview yards.
canimmunize is itself a tech startup that launched not long before the pandemic began, having been spun off from work wilson did on an immunization app at the ottawa hospital research institute.
last fall, the company received funding to run a pilot project with its vaccine software at the bruyère hospital during its flu vaccine campaign. that scheduling software reduced the time it took to vaccinate people by as much as 50 per cent and led to work on the covid-19 vaccine rollout with nova scotia, yukon and prince edward island.
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last week, canimmunize received the company of the year award from the can health network — which helps support and encourage health technology solutions — for that work.
the company’s highly-praised covid-19 vaccine scheduling system in nova scotia left some ontario residents asking why the province hadn’t used the ottawa company for its system. ontario’s u.s.-based system initially left many people scrambling to book vaccines.
wilson said companies, governments and individuals would likely have to remain vigilant about immunization status for a few more years with boosters and, likely, seasonal vaccines. for workplaces, that means understanding vulnerabilities in order to avoid disruptions.
“i think the sense is that this is going to become endemic with sporadic outbreaks and there may be shutdowns. this is what workplaces don’t want,” wilson said.

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