The COVID-19 pandemic has overtaken the existing health concerns such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases to become one of the major contributors to the recent rise in mortality rate in Australia. To combat the resurging infection rates due to newer sub-variants, Australia is focussing on the provisional approvals of vaccines along with the expansion of digital health initiatives, observes GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to ‘GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence,’ the total COVID-19 confirmed cases in Australia has increased from 19,290 per million population (PMP) in January 2022 to 350,817 in July 2022, compared to the combined 76,200 PMP cases for top 10 economies*. In addition, the total number of deaths have increased from 2,290 on 1 January 2022 to 10,385 on 12 July 2022.

Against this backdrop, Australia has adopted various COVID-19 digital health initiatives including the implementation of electronic prescribing and issuance of COVID-19 digital certificates. In addition, several apps have been launched, namely ‘COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder’ –  to book vaccinations slots, ‘Australian Government WhatsApp channel for COVID-19’ – to update Australia’s response to COVID-19, ‘Residential aged care worker COVID-19 vaccination rates map’ – to updater weekly data by facility; and ‘COVIDSafe’ mobile app across both iOS and android platforms to identify people exposed to COVID-19.

Atulana Dey, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “As confirmed cases are on the rise again due to stronger variants infecting younger populations as well as adults, there has been an accelerated development and up-scaling of  digital technologies across the healthcare system, hand-in-hand with approvals of Pfizer (booster dose extension for 16-17 year old), Novavax (first approval for 18 years and older), and Moderna (extended approval for 6 years and older) vaccines for provisional administration.”

Globaldata’s ‘Digital Marketing Intelligence’ identified three branded vaccine assets –  Novavax’s Au.novavaxcovidvaccine.com (Nuvaxovid), AstraZeneca’s Azcovid-19.com/oceania/au/en.html (Vaxzevria), and Pfizer’s Comirnatyeducation.com.au (Comirnaty).

Dey continues: “The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increase in digital initiatives in Australia, to empower healthcare users and providers with tools and data systems to better manage health outcomes and its impact on prevalent chronic illnesses.”

Additionally, there has been improved accessibility to vaccination for patients and physicians, and actionable insights tailored for individual outcomes as well as improved public health.

Dey concludes: “The COVID-19 landscape in Australia is likely to transform further in the upcoming months, as the anticipated increase in winter influenza cases due to predicted lower flu immunity, coupled with prevalent at-risk co-morbid health conditions and more dominant sub-variants will plausibly increase the infection rate. Efficient digital initiatives and data driven healthcare provisions will help combat any new challenges the country faces in the wake of a resurgence.”

*Data includes people of all ages in the US, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, France, and the UK.