Ministerio de Salud Pública · Public sector
We built the system for scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments
We created the platform that Uruguay's Ministry of Public Health integrated into its communication channels (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and web chat) to book vaccine appointments and get COVID-19 information to people. In the middle of the pandemic, we designed and implemented a scheduling solution that was simple and within everyone's reach, through the channels they use most.
The challenge
In the middle of the pandemic, Uruguay's Ministry of Public Health needed a simple, large-scale way for people to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments and access reliable information. The solution had to be within everyone's reach, through the channels they already used every day. In a context of urgency and high demand, any friction in the scheduling process could leave many people out, so simplicity and availability mattered as much as the appointment-booking function itself.
The solution
On our Hey Now solution, we built the platform that the Ministry integrated into its communication channels: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and web chat. Through those channels, people booked their vaccine appointments and received COVID-19 information. We designed and implemented a simple scheduling flow, built for large-scale use from day one. By leaning on chat channels people already knew, the solution lowered the barrier to entry and avoided having to learn a new tool at a critical moment.
The impact
The platform channeled part of the communication between the government and citizens during the pandemic and put vaccine scheduling within everyone's reach, on the most common chat channels. At a critical moment, technology helped organize a nationwide vaccination campaign. The experience showed the value of bringing public services to the channels people already use, an approach later repeated in other citizen-service initiatives.
