Definitely get vaccinated

How long does the COVID-19 vaccination actually protect? Does it also work against new coronavirus variants? Are there differences between the vaccines in this regard? Under the motto "Leading by Good Example: German Specialists Launch Own COVID-19 Vaccination App," the internationally award-winning Swiss/Israeli startup docdok.health provides the GDPR-compliant technology platform to support healthcare professionals after receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. Partner is the German Institute for Specialist Medical Care Research (DIFA), a 100% subsidiary of the Spitzenverband Fachärzte Deutschlands e.V. (SpiFa). DIFA offers this free DIFA1 app to all over 160,000 doctors of the SpiFa member associations and their (practice) teams who receive the vaccination. This allows them to easily, quickly, and securely document the effectiveness and safety of their own vaccination and contribute to transparent evaluation within a study conducted by DIFA.

The first wave of COVID-19 vaccinations has begun, and doctors as well as their (practice) teams are among the prioritized recipients of the new vaccines due to their increased exposure risk and systemic importance. At the same time, extensive public discussions are ongoing regarding the safety of the vaccines developed at rapid pace, which are used in the fight against COVID-19. There are also questions about the effectiveness in light of the repeatedly emerging coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) variants, as well as about the duration and strength of protection against infection after vaccination. "DIFA, as part of the Spitzenverband Fachärzte Deutschlands e.V. (SpiFa), aims to contribute to the broad collection and evaluation of vaccination data in the interest of the public through the DIFA1 app, in accordance with the national COVID-19 vaccination strategy of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG)," explains Patrick Lieberkühn, Managing Director of DIFA. To this end, DIFA, together with its technology and innovation partner, docdok.health AG, provides all doctors of SpiFa member associations and their staff with the GDPR-compliant and Germany-hosted DIFA1 app free of charge. Dr. Ulrich Mühlner, co-founder and CEO of docdok.health, explains: "With the DIFA1 app, possible side effects of the vaccination can be easily documented after secure two-factor authentication. An intelligent chatbot asks all relevant questions at the right time. This enables targeted and user-friendly data collection at regular intervals from the first vaccination day. This way, a secure data basis is quickly and easily established, which also provides qualified and traceable information on effectiveness over a period of 12 months after vaccination." The responses are structured and, with the users' consent, de-identified and transmitted to DIFA, which can then make the data available to healthcare institutions such as the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI).

The SpiFa, as the largest German umbrella organization of specialist medical associations, explicitly supports this project and sees the DIFA1 app as a significant contribution to overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, as it—tied to the explicit call to all doctors in hospitals and practices and their staff to get vaccinated—ensures greater transparency regarding the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines in the interest of the public.

Dr. med. Yves Nordmann, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of docdok.health, adds: "With the expected results, we hope to dispel existing concerns and reservations among the population and achieve broader acceptance of vaccinations. We have initiated similar projects in other countries and are convinced that, together with our partners SpiFa and DIFA, we can make a valuable contribution to combating the coronavirus through the DIFA1 app."

The partnership with DIFA for the DIFA1 app is not the first major project related to the coronavirus crisis for docdok.health, which was ranked among the top 3 "Swiss Digital Healthcare Startups" last year. In Austria, the company supports the Vinzenz Group, one of the country's leading private hospital groups, with a telemedicine solution called "Ambulance Online." At the University Hospital Zurich (USZ), in collaboration with IBM and ETH and supported by AstraZeneca, COVID-19 patients are monitored at home after hospital discharge as part of a study.

With the DIFA1 app, docdok.health sees great potential in Germany and other countries. According to all involved parties, it is desirable to enable broader use and further development of the DIFA1 app, beyond healthcare professionals, to benefit patients—such as through suitable integrations with vaccination appointment booking systems or pre-vaccination anamnesis collection, creating clear added value.

The DIFA1 app is based on the digital health application DiGA1, developed by docdok.health in cooperation with DIFA, which is a scheduling preparation app for improved anamnesis collection and support of chronically ill patients between doctor visits. DiGA1 is expected to be available as a reimbursable medical device in the German healthcare system in Q2 2021 under the Digital Healthcare Act (DVG). This "prescription app" allows patients to be better supported before and after medical services and aims to optimize patient-relevant processes.