The Australian government has enlisted the help of PwC to lead the nationwide rollout of its Covid-19 vaccine. The goal is to vaccinate half of the adult population by June. The rest of the adult population to be vaccinated by the end of the year. PWC’s expertise in large scale project implementation and Accenture’s deep technical expertise in digital technologies have been tapped to see this critical project through. It will be interesting to see Australia's covid vaccine rollout effectiveness.
PwC And Accenture To Help Australia With Vaccine Rollout
The Australian government selected two consultancies to coordinate the country-wide rollout. PwC is the delivery partner responsible for overseeing the entire operation. DHL and Linfox will work closely with PwC to transport needles, syringes, PPE, and the vaccine across the vast nation. In addition, Accenture will create a software to track this process and record any adverse events that occur after a vaccination.
Are Consulting Firms Equipped To Help With Large-Scale Public Health Operations?
Australia’s vaccine rollout presents complex logistical challenges. To achieve herd immunity this year, a substantial portion of the population needs to be vaccinated in a short amount of time. An additional challenge is that vaccines are difficult to transport due to their temperature requirements. The Australian government had to act quickly.
PwC and Accenture were contracted due to their established expertise with healthcare logistics and software. But it’s not just previous expertise in healthcare or software design that make consulting firms effective partners in situations like this. Top tier management consultancies like McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or the Big Four are filled with intelligent individuals trained to solve problems under stress, uncertainty, and tight deadlines.
Consultants frequently combine their process and problem-solving capabilities with government technical know-how and insight. Firms have deep benches filled with subject matter experts that can be called on for help. Finally, with any consulting project, each big meeting or major analytic hurdle completed often brings new data or organizational challenges. Objectives and deadlines change - sometimes by a lot. Governments and public health organizations typically move at a methodical pace, but this situation obviously requires speed and agility. It is natural for top-tier consulting firms to be considered partners, particularly if they have relevant expertise to the issues at hand.
Conclusion
The nature of the problem Australia is facing in rolling out Covid vaccines is unique. It requires partners with healthcare and software expertise, yes. But it also needs to move quickly to ensure it meets or beats each deadline. With lives literally at stake, utilizing consulting firms that specialize in quickly creating and deploying intricate solutions is a logical way for Australia to bring Covid vaccines safely to its citizens.
Additional Reading:
- Consulting Hiring Amidst Covid
- Vaccine Distribution Plan: A Lesson in Operations Management
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Firm Profile
- Accenture Firm Profile
- Corporate Training Opportunities