Covid-19 hit Washington State hard. A state that was equally known for its 500 year old trees and its thriving tech community had some of its most brutal months during January and February of 2021. Confirmed cases were still high and the state’s resources were stretched thin. There had never been a  global health crisis of this magnitude and no one had a playbook.

There was some light at the end of the tunnel; the FDA had approved two Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use. As states worked to secure their share of the vaccine, a new problem arose, distribution. Like most states, Washington wanted to prioritize its most vulnerable communities. The irony being that the vulnerable communities had the hardest time finding vaccine appointments.

“Some of the stories of elderly and vulnerable people trying to get the vaccine were heartbreaking.” recalls Walter Thorn,” A lot of the stories ended in tears.”

While vaccine appointments were still somewhat scarce, the issue wasn’t supply, it was the difficulty navigating the myriad websites to get a vaccine. There was no centralized location where you could get Covid-19 information and find an appointment. This was a huge impediment to getting Washington State residents vaccinated.

This was a chance for Prota to put our G.E.E.K. (generosity, empathy, excellence and kindness) values into action (see Episode 2 of The Prota Podcast). Walter Thorn began his career as a mechanical engineer. He wasn’t just looking to develop products, he wanted to understand the “why” behind those products. He joined Prota because he had an interest in Founders at their early stages and after years of traveling the world working on large corporate projects he wanted to make a difference and help out on the ground floor. Walter was the perfect person to be a leader in Washington State, with the VACCS (Vaccine Command and Coordination System) program.

VACCS is a public and private partnership between the Washington State Health Department, Prota, Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco, Expedia, and other private companies to make the Covid-19 vaccine easy and accessible. The mission was simple but the task was huge. Under Walter’s leadership the website app went from concept to completion in six weeks. On March 17, 2021 VACCS launched a vaccine locator tool, a user-friendly web app that displays available COVID vaccination appointments from multiple provider scheduling sites in one place. The tool works on both desktop computers and mobile devices and is available in multiple languages.

At the launch of the app, VACCS Center Director Dan Laster directly mentioned Prota’s contribution to the endeavor in addition to large tech companies in Washington State. “...companies like Prota Ventures and volunteer groups like COVIDWA.com and Vaccine Bookers ... have also come forward with one goal in mind: helping to get shots in the arms of Washingtonians in the safest, most efficient and equitable way possible and we are excited to see what the next six weeks will bring.”

The next six weeks brought success. From a population of 7.6 million, over 2.5 million independent users visited the site.  As of July 14th, seventy percent of Washington State residents over the age of sixteen had initiated vaccination. This was a direct result of Walter Thorn’s leadership and the hard work of  Prota members,  David Pierce, Mike Wilkerson,  Perry Azevedo and their dedication to Prota’s mission of promoting human flourishing.

To check out the team’s work go to https://vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov.