The phone rings, and the number on the screen is a local one. That small detail mattered, regional health officials in La Rioja say. COPE Logroño reported that the use of a local number “generates trust and closeness” and was a key reason 80 % of people picked up when an artificial intelligence assistant called to talk about vaccines.
The assistant is called Lola. La Rioja’s government switched it on on August 18, 2025, according to the regional paper La Rioja. It was developed by the Spanish company Tucuvi with support from GlaxoSmithKline. It holds automated phone conversations that mimic a real exchange, answers technical questions about the shots, and tells people how to book an appointment.
The first phase
The target was adults who qualify for the shingles and pneumococcal vaccines. Lola began with people born in 1960, who turned 65 that year. By mid-September it had made 4,355 calls and finished that group, and it had started on people born in 1959 who had skipped the shot the year before. Eva Martínez Ochoa, the regional director of public health, said 80% of those 4,355 people had answered. She added a caution: “we do not yet have consolidated data,” though registrations had risen since the calls began.
Before Lola, the region used a yearly letter inviting people to book, and coverage stayed moderate. Coverage for both vaccines sits at only about 50% of the target group, in La Rioja and nationally alike, the paper reported.
The later figures, from COPE in January 2026, were stronger. In five weeks, Lola had reached more than 6,300 people. In the 1960 group it contacted 3,887 people, and 45 % of those reached agreed to be vaccinated during the call itself. The region recorded a 30 % rise in coverage in that cohort. Among those born in 1959, who had already received a letter, more than 300 people came in to be vaccinated, a 7 % rise in coverage. The system also sorts people into those who accept, refuse or hesitate, so staff can plan the next step.
The second round
The region then repeated the exercise. Between June 12 and July 3, 2026, Lola phoned 4,114 people born in 1961, who turn 65 this year. EFE reported on August 7 that 3,235 answered, a response rate of 78.5 %. Of the people reached, 38.7 % said they intended to get the shingles vaccine and 35.9 % accepted the pneumococcal one. Shingles coverage for this group reached 37.8 % in 2026, up from 5.6 % until May, according to Martínez, an increase of more than 32 %.
These are regional government figures, reported by the press, and they describe who agreed to vaccination, not yet a full count of everyone vaccinated. Anyone unsure whether the shingles or pneumococcal vaccines suit them should talk to their doctor.
Sources
- Lola, la inteligencia artificial que dispara la vacunación en La Rioja: Así funciona (COPE Logroño, Rocío Ruiz)
- Lola, una 'inyección' de salud y vida (La Rioja newspaper, Roberto G. Lastra)
- El asistente virtual LOLA eleva un 40 % la cobertura de vacunación de herpes y neumococo (EFE)
