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Project Name: VAXERT

Project Brief:

A lot of communities especially in developing countries still use paper-based records management for health records. With no Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems in place, vaccine records especially those of the children are difficult to track. Such information and analytics are critical for local leaders and policymakers and useful in aligning with UN Sustainable Development Health's Goals of having more access to data.

In addition, the COVID pandemic has likewise taught us the importance of proper management of health-related activities such as contact tracing and now vaccine management, monitoring, and certification.  As more people are getting vaccinated, a Vaccine Information System (VIS) is needed in local health centers to properly secure sensitive health records. Likewise, a decentralized platform can be utilized as an 'exchange' to show proof of one's vaccination records without having to expose other health details. This is where the Cardano blockchain plays a role.

To address the above concerns, this requires different solutions to fit the needed use cases. The following are the solutions we are putting together in this project:

Vaccine Information System (VIS):

This will allow doctors and health providers (clinics, hospitals, health centers, etc.) to manage, store, and issue vaccine certification of people in the community. The VIS has a custom module specifically to record vaccinations. An EMR is already built-in in this VIS that actually serves as its core. It contains a database of vaccines and allows providers to add to the list. It also shows pertinent information like the date administered and lot number.

Note that the Vaccine System is not just limited to Covid-19 records but also to any other vaccines that are administered in the community. 

Vaccine Verification Platform:

This is a decentralized platform that utilizes the blockchain as the point of exchange to ensure transparency and authenticity. It will also use the zero-knowledge* protocol on top of blockchain to add another layer of privacy. 

*Zero-knowledge (zk) techniques are mathematical methods used to verify things without sharing or revealing underlying data. Simply, "I can't tell you a secret, but I can prove to you that I know the secret."

The platform will have two sides of users:

1. Vaccine Passport (for individuals) - For the vaccinated individual, s/he can download an app that shows the vaccination inputted by the doctor/provider in the VIS. A QR code is also generated for easy verification scanning. 

1. Establishment - Establishments can just go to a website to input or scan QR codes to verify the vaccine record of a person. No other personal information will be shown.

Vaccine APIs (For Developers)

Vaxert is designed so that health system developers can easily integrate into their existing systems/solutions through the available APIs provided. Developers can even create extra features or solutions using the APIs so they won't have to worry about security and compliance in their apps.

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# Is there really a need for this?

This recent Forbes article titled "Blockchain Technology, A Practical Solution To Vaccine Verification Systems" written by William A. Haseltine, a respected scientist, philanthropist, and professor from Harvard Medical School proves this point that having a blockchain-based vaccine certification system is the practical direction. (read here - https://bit.ly/3dw9mj2)

# Is there a similar service?

A recent search shows no similar service in Cardano. While there are some vaccine passport providers outside of Cardano like OnePass, it mainly focuses on the passport and not the other solutions that are common only in developed countries.

# Who are we?

We are the same company behind MYCURE (www.mycure.md) and HAPI Hub (www.hapihub.com), both healthcare-based solutions. We are in the health sector since 2016.  Another solution we have is funded by Catalyst Fund 6 (https://bit.ly/3lIiA0h).

We are a 10 man team and also have a pool of tech consultants that we can tap on a project basis.

# Roadmap

Month 1:

• Assignment of a project manager
• Assignment of 2 devs to initialize and customize Vaccine Information System (VIS)
• Assignment of System Architect and Backend Developer to initialize development of Vaccine Verification Platform (VVP)
• Assignment of 1 dev to do onboarding (signup process) for VIS and VVP. This includes an update of the website

Month 2:

• Continue development of VIS, VVP, and onboarding

Month 3:

• Finalize development plus testing

# These complex solutions generally take time to develop, why only 3 months?

Our team has built a healthcare framework with libraries we can utilize in the last 5 years. The proposed solutions will be built on top of this platform, thus a faster execution time frame. In addition, we already started designing this early this year but had to prioritize other modules. If funded, we can tap other devs from our pool and allot the needed resources for this project.

# Metrics / KPIs

• Stable code (to minimize application downtime)
• Simple code (simplicity is key, the simpler it is the faster to test and change)
• Testable code (acts like documentation so that changes will immediately show errors)
• Team velocity (story points delivered per sprint)
• Knowledge share (collaborative meetings and proper documentation)

# Success

Success is delivered on the delivery of a website and apps where:

• A doctor/health provider can sign up for a Vaccine Information System that they can use in their facility. They can start inputting the medical and vaccine records of the residents in the community in a secure manner. 
• A doctor/health center can issue digital vaccine certification.
• Individuals can signup and able to download his/her digital vaccine certification.
• Establishments can go to a page on the website where it can scan vaccine certification and verify its authenticity.
• Developers can access health APIs to create or integrate modules and apps on top of this Vaccine platform.

While marketing and onboarding health centers are outside the scope of this proposed project, an objective is for a town or municipality to adopt the platform in their health centers and run it in the community. This will be a good proof of concept and have it replicated in other communities if successful.

# Budget

Based on the activities and manpower mentioned above in the roadmap, the following are the costs to build Vaxert:

• Vaccine Information System: 2 devs @ 3 months  $12,000
• Vaccine Verification Platform: 2 senior devs @ 2 months (spread) $12,000
• Website and Onboarding: 1 dev @ 2months (spread) $5,000
• 1 Project Manager: 1 month (spread over 3 months) $3,000