When the pandemic hit the country, Fredrikstad Municipality faced an enormous logistical challenge: How to vaccinate large parts of the population quickly, safely, and effectively? And with one important factor to consider: Everything had to be done without compromising privacy or patient experience.

The solution was close collaboration with Medibrix and the introduction of the Health Book. A digital platform that is now central to the municipality’s vaccination work.

Quick start in a crisis situation

Fredrikstad Municipality was by no means alone in this problem when the vaccines arrived in Norway and the entire population had to be vaccinated as quickly as possible. The elderly were to be first, and there was no time to lose. An enormous task lay ahead of the few who were to facilitate a safe process. “We simply did not have systems that could handle mass vaccination when the Covid-19 pandemic came,” says Inger Johanne Bråten, Head of Vaccination and Infection Control in Fredrikstad Municipality.

“The most important thing for us was to ensure secure handling of health information and a solution that safeguarded patients’ rights and consent in a good and safe way. We must not forget that the whole situation was confusing and uncertain for many, and especially for the elderly who were to enter the vaccination program first. We were completely dependent on a solution that everyone could handle easily. We found that in the Health Book.”

Within a short time, the municipality established a system where residents could book appointments, consent to treatment and get an overview of their vaccination status. This was crucial for the management of vaccination in a municipality with over 84,000 inhabitants.

Seamless integration and secure data processing

The Health Book is tightly integrated with SYSVAK, the national vaccination registry, which both simplifies documentation and enables automatic updating of vaccine data in real time.

“It is absolutely crucial that the system complies with GDPR and the Health Personnel Act,” says Bråten. “We need to know that the information is secure, and that it is only shared with those who have legitimate access. The Health Book gives us this security.”

At the same time, the flexibility of the solution makes it possible to adapt the information and communication flow to different target groups – without additional administrative burden.

The effect of the digitalization of the vaccination process has been clear: the municipality has increased capacity significantly, both during and after the pandemic. After the introduction of the Health Book, Fredrikstad Municipality has expanded its use to include travel vaccines and youth vaccination, among other things.

“We get more and better information before vaccination, and this allows healthcare personnel to prepare better,” says Bråten. “It gives us a much more effective conversation and safer decisions about which vaccines are necessary.”

The workflow also makes it possible to send out customized forms and obtain consent in advance through our digital system.

Towards the future of vaccination services

Today, the Health Book is used for much more than just emergency mass vaccination. The municipality has developed a robust vaccination service with high demand, including from neighboring municipalities.

“We only have 2.2 full-time employees at the vaccination office, but with the help of good digital tools we achieve an incredible amount,” says Bråten. “We have also reached a point where we have a very well-functioning vaccination offer, and have also expanded it to include youth vaccination and reminders about booster doses.”

One example is the free meningitis vaccine for young people from 10th grade to 2nd grade in upper secondary school. The municipality collaborated with community nurses and used the Health Book for invitations and to obtain consent directly from this target group. “Young people are fully digital and have a high threshold for calling in and making an appointment. The fact that they can now order a vaccine directly in the app has been absolutely crucial in achieving the good vaccination figures we see today.”

In the fall of 2024, work also began on mapping the need for booster vaccines among residents. With the help of the Health Book and the residents’ consent, information is obtained from SYSVAK, and the municipality collaborates with pharmacies to make it possible to offer the vaccine. Our residents can therefore choose where they want to be vaccinated. The pharmacies have opening hours both during the day and in the evening, which leads to an increased offer. This gives our residents good opportunities to get their vaccine at one of the various pharmacies around our municipality.

“The pharmacies also use the Health Book, so it is easy to include them in the work,” says Bråten.

Digitalization with the patient at the center

For Fredrikstad Municipality, flexibility and continuous improvement have been crucial.

“I have always had an easy way to the developers at Medibrix. They listen, adapt and update. It is not a rigid system – it is a living tool,” says Bråten.

Fredrikstad Municipality is a good example of how digitalization of healthcare services can strengthen capacity, security and user experience, without compromising privacy. The collaboration with Medibrix has made it possible to deliver vaccination services that are future-oriented, robust and constantly evolving.

“We see that digitalization does not replace human contact, but strengthens it. The digital tools help us do our job better, both for the citizens and for us who work with vaccination,” concludes Bråten.