Extreme Networks provided the site with 19 mobile Wi-Fi access points
Extreme Networks was selected by Novant Health to provide its cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions to support a mass COVID-19 vaccination event at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
Earlier this week, data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 21% of the total U.S. population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine since the distribution of the vaccines began in mid-December. Mass vaccination sites and events, like the one in North Carolina, are one of many strategies being used to get “shots into arms.” But, in order to make sure these sites and the healthcare staff working within them can get the job done, there needs to be reliable and straightforward connectivity.
Novant Health was able to deploy 19 of Extreme’s Wi-Fi 6 access points (APs) in less than one hour to achieve a more secure and faster wireless network. The APs were connected to the existing Spectrum Center infrastructure via a virtual LAN, linking APs back to Novant Health’s cloud managed network. Further, the APs were mounted to carts with wheels, making it easy to move and rearrange them as needed.
One hundred and twenty patients were able to receive a vaccine simultaneously at the site, with more than 2,220 vaccine administered on February 13, 2021, compared to the roughly 500 that typical clinic administers per day.
According to the press release, Novant Health’s team can more easily move its vaccination efforts to different locations and events due to the simplicity of the Extreme Wi-Fi deployment.
“The pandemic has forced organizations to be flexible and get creative with technology. Extreme Networks’ cloud-managed solutions simplified what we were trying to accomplish and provided the security, flexibility, and seamless connectivity we needed to make this mass vaccination possible,” commented Rob Hale, senior manager of technical engineering at Novant Health. “We plan to continue hosting vaccination events and know that thanks to Extreme’s technology, our Wi-Fi network will not be a concern.”
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