The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has introduced a service that allows the community to book an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine at DHA facilities through WhatsApp.

The pioneering move to launch the DHA WhatsApp hotline, which utilises Artificial Intelligence to facilitate the booking of appointments, is in line with the Authority’s vision to adopt advanced technologies in the healthcare sector.

The automated chatbot application is a free 24/7 service, initially developed to raise awareness among the public and provide them with accurate information about Covid-19 as well as other DHA services. The service was introduced in line with the Authority’s efforts to provide community members with an option to have a 24/7 communication channel available in multiple languages.

More than 150,000 Covid-19 queries were addressed through WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Facebook, since DHA and Facebook began providing the hotline service.

To access the 24/7 WhatsApp hotline, users will have to add 800 342 to their contacts and send “Hi” on WhatsApp. To book for the Covid-19 vaccine appointment, users should submit their Medical Record Number (MRN), which is a prerequisite to access the service.

The public can then select the vaccination centre and the appointment date and time as per their convenience. The AI-enabled system will provide the earliest appointment options in the selected centre. Users will then receive a confirmation message with the name of the centre, date and timing of their appointment.

Fatma Al Khajah, Director of the Customer Happiness Department at DHA said, “Through the use of AI technology and this additional channel to book an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine, we aim to provide community members with the utmost convenience. The new service will further bolster our vaccination drive.”

Al Khajah added that the new system operates round-the-clock and provides customers the opportunity to instantly book an appointment as per their convenience.

Ramez Shehadi, Managing Director for Facebook Mena, said: “During the Covid-19 pandemic, it's been important more than ever before to connect the public with official sources of accurate health information. We are pleased to be able to partner with the DHA to help provide the community in Dubai with a quick and simple way to book their essential vaccines via WhatsApp." – TradeArabia News Service