In an effort to alleviate supply chain issues, Tech Mahindra and blockchain startup StaTwig will cooperate to create a COVID-19 “VaccineLedger” solution that addresses these challenges.
Increasingly important to many governments’ strategies for pandemic management, mass vaccination programmes against COVID-19 are becoming increasingly urgent.
Blockchain companies are moving quickly to propose ways in which the technology could provide solutions to some of the logistical challenges associated with these programmes.
As a graduate of the UNICEF Innovation Fund, blockchain startup StaTwig was already conducting trials of its blockchain-based solution VaccineLedger in 2019, in both India and the United States.
Fast forward to 2021 and the global vaccine campaign against COVID-19, and the firm has now formed a partnership with Indian IT behemoth Tech Mahindra to implement the solution across the globe.
When it comes to vaccine supply chains, VaccineLedger is focused on increasing transparency at the vial level, with the goal of anticipating and preventing problems such as stock expiration and counterfeiting as well as quality control and availability.
Even if an attempted vaccination exchange agreement between Israel and the United Kingdom failed to come together, leading in the impending loss of 1 million Pfizer doses, there is an increased need for such a solution now more than ever.
It is possible to integrate smart contracts and Internet of Things technologies into StaTwig’s system in order to identify goods that are about to expire and to maintain temperature control for critical equipment.
As part of its partnership with Tech Mahindra, StaTwig will benefit from the company’s experience in resource scalability and system integration to enable the solution’s global deployment.
Additionally, both businesses have collaborated on the development of numerous corporate security modules for the solution’s mobile and web applications, which have been tailored to suit the needs of manufacturers and governments in a variety of different countries.
There is still a disparity in the difficulties encountered by different countries: in the United States, millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses are in danger of expiring this summer due to vaccine reluctance in several states.
The majority of nations in the Global South are dealing with an even more serious problem: a complete absence of immunizations. Compared to nations in the Global North, which account for 85 percent of vaccine doses given globally, the lowest-income countries account for just 0.3 percent of vaccine doses delivered to date.
In the absence of a globally integrated, efficient ledger solution that addresses the root causes of vaccine inequality, such as political factors, it can be used to assist global actors in mitigating the worst effects of waste, red tape, and delivery delays that result from logistical inefficiencies.
In places where vaccinations are still in short supply, these efficiency improvements may assist to guarantee that what little is available is utilised as quickly and efficiently as possible. Rajesh Dhuddu, a representative from Tech Mahindra, has explained the product’s scope and objectives, stating:
“Wastage of life saving drugs such as vaccines should be addressed on priority and we need to come together in order to effectively find a solution here. Our strategic partnership with StaTwig will provide supply chain participants with a single application to enhance traceability, and chain of custody. This will not only ensure safety and validity of vaccine supply but also help in adherence to complex regulatory requirements, set up by Drug Administration Authority in any country.”
As previously reported, the National Health Service of the United Kingdom has already used, on a limited scale, a system based on the Hadera Hashgraph to monitor vaccine cold storage conditions.
In the meanwhile, blockchain technologies are being utilized to handle vaccination data and digital health passports, which are becoming more popular.
