Dweebs Global Vaccine Availability

Vaccination rates remain alarmingly low (only 6.2% worldwide as of June 2021, per Our World in Data). Even when vaccines are available, lack of access to correct information and an unfortunate prevalence of misinformation may suppress vaccination rates. To address these issues, Dweebs Global launched Dweebs Global Vaccine Availability. DGVA’s fundamental premise is to crowdsource information and make it freely and automatically available in real-time at a localized level, but on a global scale. This is possible because everyone (members of specific marginalized populations, trusted community leaders, government officials, and international experts) is encouraged to contribute information to our freely available database. While DGVA has the potential to provide up-to-date, real-time information about COVID-19 at an incredibly detailed and localized level to disadvantaged populations worldwide, it is difficult to scale up while remaining 100% volunteer-driven and struggling to cover basic costs such as website hosting and compensation for key personnel.

Many in developing countries fail to access high-quality healthcare (including COVID-19 vaccines) not because it is unavailable, but because they lack correct information (or are subjected to misinformation) about the need for or availability of such healthcare -- including critical information regarding, and access to, COVID-19 vaccines. For example, women, particularly in developing countries, are sometimes hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccines with RNA spike proteins due to the concern it could bring deleterious consequences to their reproductive health. It is critical for such women to be aware of up-to-date and high-quality information in this area in order to make optimal decisions about whether to obtain a vaccine and, in fact, DGVA’s crowd-sourced informational database currently reassures that in larger case studies, abnormal or increased harm was not found.

Dweebs Global is leveraging its experience in collaboration to bring together local and international voices to help end vaccine hesitancy by providing up-to-date information tailored specifically to push through the noise of disinformation. While several organizations have provided information regarding the different vaccine candidates as well as their side effects, DGVA aims to push further with an easy-to-use system that allows a user to identify different vaccine candidates that are available to her/him/them in their own region, along with individually tailored articles and videos that are pre-selected based on the survey the participant uses when they search for vaccines in their area. In order to accomplish this, DGVA will use a series of tools. First, there will be a pre-assessment allowing the program to target the information and videos provided to the user, specifically targeting regional concerns. Second, the program will conduct a post-assessment to gather data that will help determine the effectiveness of the program in impacting vaccine hesitancy as well as aid in further research. Finally, DGVA offers mental health resources through Dweebs Global’s existing mentorship program to help combat the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on global mental health.

By crowdsourcing a database of up-to-date, comprehensive, and highly localized information, DGVA aims to combat vaccine disinformation by making high-quality information available to underprivileged populations around the world. Not only is DGVA able to leverage a network of high-quality crowdsourced information, but it is also able to lean on and expand existing Dweebs Global networks. These networks include local community leaders and on-the-ground mentors in developing countries to combat disinformation and conduct both pre- and post-assessments to affirmatively collect and leverage vaccine-related information. In particular, we will conduct pre-assessments to identify needed information and post-assessments to determine the usefulness of provided information and further identify possibilities for improvement. DGVA also aims to include the engagement of local stakeholders such as governmental authorities, health organizations, schools, and media to ensure sustainability and robustness.

We all waited on edge for the release of the COVID-19 vaccine following the outbreak. Conflicting information barraged us from all sides. The vaccine finally arrived for public inoculation and is generally well-received in developed parts of the world, but receives hesitation in some developing countries. Breaking the echo chambers that proselytize many became an apparent setback that impedes vaccine rollout. DGVA aims to make scientifically backed and fact-checked information readily accessible in all countries around the world in real-time. By launching our crowdsourced website, participants are directed to available vaccine sites in their country and educated to dispel misinformation. 

The crowdsourced website was launched in March and has served people in 56 countries. As the press accumulates and the word spreads, we anticipate DGVA to attract more participants. Our volunteer team has steadily grown since the formation of the project and will undoubtedly continue to do so as we aim to build and form ground teams for assessments. 

DGVA is a global outreach program unlike any other. While other international organizations aim to fight vaccine hesitancy and misinformation with a broad, western-style informational approach, our system leverages diverse voices through modern technology and network-based problem-solving to address community-based problems at a local level, but on a global scale. In particular, DGVA offers tailored, individualized vaccine information to users, fosters intercommunication among individuals within communities, and engages local and community leaders. We’ve known for a long time that directly engaging all stakeholders in a community to craft solutions creates results that are more effective and more sustainable. What makes this program truly innovative is its ability not only to engage with community leaders, but to connect individuals within each community, tapping into the unused capital of people who have help to give, and bringing them together with those who need that help. We strongly believe it will change the market by showing the importance of solving a problem with sustainability as the end game. Our most crucial test is ensuring that the stakeholders we engage with are part of creating the solution.

Currently, DVGA is serving 56 countries. We anticipate reaching over 100 countries and serving 100,000 people within the first year of implementation. Our goal, moving forward, is to reach all 196 countries listed as soon as possible and serving millions with our crowdsourced information Our major impact goal over the next year is to have readily available vaccine information for as many of our 196 target countries as soon as possible. We will scale up operations in the number of countries reached and recruit ground teams to conduct pre-assessment surveys. On an ongoing basis over the next four years (or until the COVID-19 pandemic is over), we will concentrate on disseminating the collected information and sharing it with local stakeholders to promote sustainability and robustness. The information gathered will also be helpful in preparing for future pandemics. The tactics we find that work in post-assessment can be administered to prevent and halt future outbreaks in their tracks as COVID-19 vaccines become more accessible.

1. Log an increase in the number of website page views per day/week/month.

2. Log an increase in the number of video post views per day/week/month.

3. Increase in the number of communities who have accessed and contributed to our crowdsourced information.

4. Increase in the number of communities who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 using DGVA.

5. Being able to create lasting partnerships with local stakeholders for the sustainability of DGVA's goals.

All 15 volunteers on the research staff and three on the programming staff volunteer their time for this project.

Dweebs Global was founded shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic erupted across the globe as an effort to stem the flood of economic turmoil by making volunteer mentorship available to impacted populations around the world. Dweebs Global has since exploded into a global phenomenon with over 500 volunteer mentors across 35 countries engaged in dozens of diverse public interest projects in addition to our core mentoring program. The core idea behind Dweebs is that we connect those who need help with those who have help to give -- using crowdsourcing and network-based problem solving not only to tackle global issues, but to identify the issues that need to be tackled in the first place. Right in line with that mission, our volunteers began thinking about the problem of vaccine hesitancy and misinformation in late 2020 and early 2021, just as the first vaccines started to become available. However, that behind-the-scenes work did not culminate in a public website until March.

Dweebs Global prides itself being led by a team of three energetic youth of Asian descent who inspire from the top down. Together they have rallied a globally diverse team of professionals that create sustainable change in their communities. Under their leadership, an active volunteer team spans Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and South America. Our non-profit doesn't turn away anyone based on orientations or preference, provided that they are interested in, and able to, better the world around them.

A diverse team, from all around the world, works together on DGVA. Multiple virtual meetings per week ensure team members achieve KPIs. Our teams on the field will be instructed to establish a solid network with local stakeholders including schools, state governments, and health organizations, who will be included in the crowdsourcing stage of this project. A team of fifteen researchers ranges from high schoolers like Kori to Candy, an epidemiologist in California who has seen the effects of the pandemic first-hand. The research side is led by two stellar mentors, Maiya and Sarah. 

Hazma, an AI researcher from Pakistan, leads the programming side. Ajinkya, a computer scientist from India, has fine-tuned our website stack. Mohammad, a beginning computer scientist from India, has added expertise.

The two sides of DGVA come together under the lead of Dweebs Global Executive Director, Janani Mohan, who has created successful career mentorship teams in India as well as policy teams that actively survey and assess the causes of child labor in Bangladesh.

Financial resources are necessary to cover basic organizational expenses such as website-hosting costs and to compensate key personnel that will fuel exponential growth as we expand and develop critical volunteer-based initiatives such as the DGVA program, which seeks to combat vaccine hesitancy, vaccine misinformation, and an observed gap in timely, accurate, and locality-specific vaccine information by utilizing network-based information collection and dispersal. In addition, as an extremely young and fast-growing organization that has, to date, been 100% volunteer-driven, we would appreciate any assistance that is available with developing standardized procedures for compliance with applicable laws and accounting standards, developing and improving internal governance procedures, establishing and improving fundraising practices and procedures, branding, marketing, technology development, etc.

Even though DGVA is already fully operational, Dweebs Global and the DGVA can use all the help available. This non-profit was created from an immediate need and desire to help those in need when the pandemic hit and grew exponentially without considering human capital, a business model, financials, legal and regulatory matters, public relations, monitoring and evaluation, product/service distribution, or technology. These skills and areas have been pushed aside by the blind desire to help as many people as possible. It is in no way sustainable but somehow we keep pushing. We acknowledge these skills and areas will have to be learned and incorporated into our internal structure. 

We would be interested in partnering with MIT Faculty and MIT initiatives as well as Solve Members. We are keen on learning how to best improve our gaps and create a stronger impact around the globe. IntraHealth has an organizational model that helps improve health care workers and their services in over 100 countries. Their efforts alongside our teams on the ground could increase the capacity and efficiency of vaccination sites. FHI 360 partners with governments, the private sector, and civil society to bring about positive social change. Together we can build upon their mission of providing lifesaving health care, quality education, and opportunities for meaningful economic participation.

DGVA seeks to combat vaccine misinformation worldwide, including in the United States. By encouraging individuals, professionals, and industry personnel to self-report detailed and locality-specific known information, DGVA can efficiently collect and make publicly available extremely helpful and localized information in real-time relating to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, supplies, and related commodities, in addition to supplies of medicinal products relating to HIV, TB & malaria within the COVID-19 context.

 Further, Dweebs Global more broadly includes a number of programs that raise the health of US citizens, including an incredibly successful mental health program, which seeks to connect those in need with access to free, timely, and high-quality crowd-sourced mental health informational resources in addition to offering critical connections to mentors in every field through Dweebs Global’s flagship volunteer mentoring program.

While DGVA is not a refugee-specific project, all Dweebs Global programs are structured around the simple concept that we can utilize modern technology and network-based problem-solving to connect those who need help with those who have help freely available to give and only lacking an appropriate platform and connection, and thus open doors for disadvantaged populations in every country in the world and in every career field. Through an incredible volunteer-based mentor-matching system in addition to a wealth of crowd-sourced information, resources, and connections to those who can provide needed information and resources, Dweebs Global is capable of connecting refugees, asylees, and other disadvantaged populations with access to holistic and individualized support as they seek to navigate an unforgiving system and structure their new lives.

While DGVA is not a female-specific project, all Dweebs Global programs are structured around the simple concept that we can utilize modern technology and network-based problem-solving to connect those who need help with those who have help freely available to give and only lacking an appropriate platform and connection, and thus open doors for disadvantaged populations (including women and girls) in every country in the world and in every career field. Through an incredible volunteer-based mentor-matching system in addition to a wealth of crowd-sourced information, resources, and connections to those who can provide needed information and resources, Dweebs Global is capable of connecting disadvantaged populations (including women and girls) with access to holistic and individualized support as they seek to navigate an unforgiving system and structure their new lives.  

In addition, by utilizing crowd-sourced and network-based problem-solving and engagement, and thus by engaging locally and specifically at every level (individual, community leadership, companies, governments, etc.), Dweebs Global is able to offer localized informational resources that are specific to given demographic groups or underprivileged populations in specific regions and circumstances at a localized level while remaining globally scalable.

Dweebs Global leverages novel technology and data science to create a sustainable, fully automated, scalable, and self-adjusting mentor-matching and network-based volunteer engagement systems that, simply put, connect those who need help with those who have help to give.

By encouraging individuals, professionals, and industry personnel to self-report detailed and locality-specific known information, DGVA can efficiently collect and make publicly available extremely helpful and localized information in real-time relating to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, supplies, and related commodities, in addition to supplies of medicinal products relating to HIV, TB & malaria within the COVID-19 context.