Spanish, English Language State Chatbots Target COVID Misinformation

The COVID-19 pandemic that took hold a little more than two years ago has necessitated a tremendously heavy response from state and local government in the areas of IT and innovation. But at one state health department, officials were recently able to build upon the work done in the early months of the pandemic to lighten the lift in a subsequent initiative.

Leaders at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) identified a need in recent months to combat misinformation and disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic — and to do so by reaching residents where they were. In recent months, staffers spearheaded a three-way partnership to target residents with accurate information on the pandemic, the safety of vaccines, booking vaccine appointments and getting digital vaccination records. The app of choice? WhatsApp, from Meta, parent company of Facebook. Among the takeaways:

• Realizing the need to fight bad information, CDPH initiated a conversation at the start of the year with several technology companies around the state. “We were asking them to step up, ‘How can you help us ... manage or fight that mis- and disinformation going on?’ They talked about what they’re doing, the way to report ‘mis- and dis-,’” Yurina Melara Valiulis, multiethnic press secretary at the California Vaccination Task Force, told Techwire. During that conversation, the state identified WhatsApp, Meta’s messaging app, as its platform of choice — and opted to work with a previous partner, Accenture, on the build.
• Specifically, Accenture helped build Spanish- and English-language chatbots that were deployed on WhatsApp — making California the first state in the nation to launch such tools — using information vetted by CDPH experts and with free promotion credits from Meta. “We need to make sure that the different communities have the information they need in the way they need it, in the language they need it,” Melara Valiulis said.
  “Since the start of the pandemic, WhatsApp has been a powerful tool for more than 150 health organizations around the world to share lifesaving information and tackle misinformation. We’re thrilled to add the state of California, as the first state in the U.S., to this effort as well, and in doing so will be offering even more tools to get Californians accurate and authoritative news, information, resources, and tips to stay healthy during COVID-19,” Mona Pasquil Rogers, Director of California State Policy for Meta, said in a statement released Thursday.
• The chatbot, which is capable of processing 500 requests per second, has generated more than 1,200 conversations since its deployment — April 7 for Spanish speakers, April 21 in English. The information it provides to WhatsApp users who scan a QR code, or text “hola” for Spanish or “hi” for English to 833-422-1090, can also be found on myturn.ca.gov. (That’s the site the state deployed in January 2021 in collaboration with Accenture, Salesforce and Skedulo; and in pilots with the counties of Los Angeles and San Diego.) The tool will also build on “other strategies to combat misinformation and disinformation, including the deployment of a robust network of trusted community messengers” who aim to “proactively” reach residents to ensure they get vaccines and booster shots. Discussions with partners began in January and the project took form by the end of February. The build followed, leading up to the launches this month.
  “So, we want to make sure to equitably get information out to folks and make sure that we’re reaching them ... where they’re at,” Ashley Clark, press secretary for the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force, told Techwire. “Hopefully that does spur more creative ways for us to make sure folks have accurate and reliable information related to COVID-19 and the vaccine.”