Blockchain technology has found an application in nearly all spheres of life. Singaporean healthcare services provider Zuellig Pharma is using the SAP blockchain to track and verify counterfeit COVID-19 vaccinations.
To prevent practitioners from providing expired COVID-19 vaccines, Singaporean healthcare services business Zuellig Pharma is employing a blockchain-based network to track COVID-19 vaccinations.
Mobile app for the verification
By allowing clients to instantaneously verify the provenance and authenticity of their vaccinations via a mobile app, Zuellig Pharma claims that their new “eZTracker” management system can help avoid the use of improperly kept or counterfeit vaccines.
“Expired or incorrectly stored vaccinations can be avoided,” said Daniel Laverick, vice president and head of Zuellig Pharma’s digital and data solutions.
To improve supply chain transparency, eZTracker uses the SAP blockchain to gather, track, and trace numerous data points. The following is an explanation from the eZTracker website on how it works:
“Simply scan the QR code on the packaging to instantly verify if your product comes from an authorized distributor.”
“Through its blockchain-powered app, patients may scan the 2D data matrix on the product packaging to validate crucial product information like expiry date, temperature, and provenance,” Laverick explained.
The SAP Blockchain runs as a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform, allowing clients to create unique blockchain extensions for their existing applications. According to SAP, its systems are involved in 77 percent of the world’s transaction revenue.
Zuellig worked with MSD to implement eQTrakcer in Hong Kong in 2020, where it was used to track vaccines for the Human Papilloma Virus, known as Gardasil.
“As the vaccinations pass through multiple handover points in the supply chain, the goods’ data points are loaded into eZTracker’s encrypted blockchain ledger, ensuring that it cannot be tampered with,” Laverick noted at the time.
“Users such as healthcare professionals and patients are able to verify the authenticity of the vaccine by scanning a unique data matrix code on the product pack.”
About Zuellig pharma
Zuellig is one of Asia’s leading healthcare service provider firms, having been founded 100 years ago. Zuellig also has a product called eZVax, which provides end-to-end vaccination management to governments, local health authorities, and the private sector.
According to research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Southeast Asia is a hotbed of counterfeit medications, with between $520 million and $2.6 billion spent on them each year.
