How Blockchain Can be Used for Vaccine Authenticity and Supply Chain Management:

The round-the-clock tireless work of our medical communities along with leading companies like Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca over the past year, whose mission has been to create safe and effective vaccines, is finally paying off. We are nearing the last leg of the pandemic marathon. In order to make it through the finish line, we must now face and overcome a new challenge.

The Problem:

The process of getting the covid vaccine from its manufacturer to the arm of the patient (manufacture-to-arm) has encountered both quality and logistics hurdles. From counterfeit vaccines making it to the arms of patients to sub-optimal storage conditions and distribution errors, the effectiveness of protection and thus the goal of herd immunity is impacted as we race to the finish line of the pandemic. A guaranteed safe and effective vaccine is crucial to ensuring that public acceptance, as opposed to public hesitance towards covid immunization goals, is achieved.

Counterfeit pharmaceuticals account for 70% of all drugs in the supply chain in developing countries. In developed countries, due to better regulatory infrastructures, these numbers are much lower. The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest estimates that Global sales of counterfeit drugs total $320 billion every year, almost double the amount since 2005. Counterfeit covid vaccines are not only becoming widespread but dangerous. Some impacts include toxic effects, unintended effects, and some even contain no active ingredients. The WHO found that there were roughly 3000 COVAX vaccines stored in a manufacturing plant in China, with water rather than actual medicinal components. Worldwide announcements were made for countries to be cautious about the source of Covid vaccines, on account of an Interpol statement in March warning that counterfeit vaccines are widespread. The dangers of counterfeit vaccines during the pandemic lie namely in the fact that people have increased odds of severe illness and possible death and also a false sense of security when they are vaccinated with fakes.

Manufacturing a covid-specific vaccine has become relatively effortless thanks to the large advancements science has seen over the past 20 years. Storing and thus distributing these vaccines, on the other hand, has become the main problem for governments. Precisely, Covid vaccines must be permanently stored in freezing temperatures of at least 70 degrees below zero, in order to be effective. More so, this temperature must also be maintained from the time of manufacture, through the distribution centers, during transit, as well as in the hospitals and vaccination centers. Transportation and storage become difficult because there is a limited amount of freezers that have the capacity to store things below 70C. If storage took place in regular freezers, the vaccines would only be usable for a maximum of 5 days.

The distributive process becomes a challenge because of the intricacies in coordinating supply and demand for different covid vaccination centres. This challenge is two-fold. On the one hand, an adequate amount of product should be guaranteed at a centre that has booked a certain amount of appointments, where real-time events have resulted in numerous cancellations due to lack of vaccines at any given time. In addition, as mentioned previously, ensuring the product is transported and stored in the right freezers also poses a major challenge when it comes to distribution.

Many people are hesitant to get the covid vaccine on account of the problems mentioned above. Many people are distrustful of the vaccine’s source. In developing countries, for example, the legitimacy of covid vaccines is frequently questioned. Despite the dire need to quell the waves of infections that these countries are battling with, many people are waiting to get the more “reputable” vaccine. For example, in India, COVAX is distrusted on account of Interpol’s findings of fake COVAX vaccines distributed as the real deal. As a result, many are waiting for Russia’s SPUTNIK vaccines, knowing that they are not currently available in India. While they may be available in a few month’s time, the risk of getting covid does not simultaneously wait.

People need assurance that their vaccine is effective. Having improperly stored vaccines diminishes their effectiveness substantially. Knowing these issues take place, if there is no guarantee that the vaccines are stored properly, people thus hesitate to sign up. Getting the vaccine from facilities to centres is also crucial in ensuring people trust their vaccine. When people book their appointment and it gets cancelled at the last minute, this opens up a window for people to stop trusting their government to deliver the good they promised. Consequently losing confidence that their vaccine will be guaranteed in their future appointments.

What needs to be done to solve this?

I am the Founder of a company I created called Vidify™ to ensure authenticity and streamline the distribution of the much-needed covid vaccines. Currently, the WHO has named vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 health threats facing the globe in 2019. Vidify™ aims to reduce vaccine hesitancy, by solving the problems faced by the manufacturer-to-arm processes caused primarily by counterfeit covid vaccines along with storage and distribution faults.

Vidify™ fills this gap. It is an end-to-end platform that starts with every single vial on the blockchain to ensure:

• authentication → right at the source of every single dose
• traceability → tracking throughout the supply chain
• delivery → goes into the right patient’s arm

There must be an un-tampered verification system for COVID-19 vaccines to eliminate the problem of counterfeit vaccines. Vidify™ uses blockchain networks where every single step in manufacture-to-arm is tracked to ensure authenticity, efficiency and quality. The leger in each network is public and maintained by each authorized user. This tracking thus would signal any tampering or any exchange of vials along every step of the way.

Blockchain coupled with the use of internet of things (IoT) technology (eg, temperature sensors) would collect, store, and transmit information on temperature (as well as other useful data). It can further monitor transport and storage of COVID-19 vaccine batches, done through IoT sensors which are affixed to the vaccine storage and transportation containers. It is essential to monitor the temperature as well as the length of time in storage of COVID-19 vaccines, because different vaccines have different storage requirements. Having accurate monitoring allowing for damaged batches to be identified and removed, preventing ineffective vaccines from being administered.

The advantage of using blockchain to ensure distribution is guaranteed to different vaccine clinics is that the transparency of the chain of events that each vial experiences from manufacture all the way through to distribution can let public health know ahead of time that there will be a shortage and thus public health can inform the public in a timely manner. More importantly, given that distribution problems are not solely due to problems in getting the vaccines on time, but also due to things like tampered, fake, or improperly stored, distribution is a problem intertwined at all levels of manufacture-to-arm processes.

With every vaccine monitored over the blockchain, each link along the chain could keep track of the entire process, and health departments could monitor the chain as a whole and intervene, if required, to ensure proper functioning:

• Manufacturers could track whether shipments are delivered on time to their destinations
• Distributors would provide a more efficient delivery tracking platform, including storage requirements verifications, and would be the first to know and notify if things go wrong
• Hospitals and clinics could better manage their stocks, mitigating supply and demand constraints. Furthermore, they would get guarantees concerning vaccine authenticity and proper storage conditions
• Individuals would have an identical guarantee for the specific vaccine they receive

How are other large companies are exploring:

For example, IBM and Moderna are working to explore blockchain, AI and hybrid cloud in order to help facilitate more effective management of the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain and sharing of distribution data. Their goals are to improve public confidence in vaccine programs and boost vaccination rates in order to reduce the spread of infection.IBM is only looking to streamline the supply chain of vaccines. However, they do not include authentication at the source of these vaccine vials, nor 100% temperature monitoring.

Vidify™ has built further safety mechanisms into the blockchain, to ensure the authenticity of covid vaccines. Any attempts to amend the data in the chain would immediately be visible to all authorized participants and would be rejected. This allows for a verification system that ensures the product has complied with regulatory requirements from manufacture-to-arm.

While it is still unclear how long it will take until the vaccines are available for every last one of us, it is almost certain that their supply chain must be closely monitored. Proof of authentic vaccine product, proper storage and reliable distribution recorded on the blockchain is indeed priceless, particularly for the COVID-19 vaccine which the entire world needs desperately. Supervising and fast-recall traceability will thus make more effortless-secure-effective supply chains build up confidence in the public.