British hospitals use blockchain to track Covid-19 vaccines

A sign of a NHS vaccination centre in Wembley, London, Britain. Logistical hurdles are a significant risk to the speedy distribution of Covid-19 vaccines but have resulted in booming business for companies selling technology for monitoring shipments from factory freezer to shots in the arm. — Reuters

LONDON: Two British hospitals are using blockchain technology to keep tabs on the storage and supply of temperature-sensitive Covid-19 vaccines, the companies behind the initiative said on Jan 19, in one of the first such initiatives in the world.

Two hospitals, in central England’s Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick, are expanding their use of a distributed ledger, an offshoot of blockchain, from tracking vaccines and chemotherapy drugs to monitoring fridges storing Covid-19 vaccines.