To track Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine storage, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is implementing an internet of things (IoT) solution built on Hedera Hashgraph. This is one interesting way that IoT is working with blockchain to facilitate COVID-19 vaccine rollouts around the globe.
TLDR_
- Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine must be stored at uber cold temperatures until it is administered
- Hedera Hashgraph is a decentralized public network that calls itself the “trust layer of the internet”
- Hedera Hashgraph is being used to track the temperature and journey of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine through the healthcare supply chain
The majority of available COVID-19 vaccines require ultra-cold storage conditions. This poses a major obstacle for public and private health services around the globe. Pfizer’s vaccine (co-developed with German biotech BioNTech) must be stored between -80°C and -60°C initially, and between 2°C and 8°C just prior to being administered. If left outside those temperature windows, the vaccine must be thrown away.
Everyware, a UK-based digital asset monitoring company, is using Hedera Hashgraph technology to manage data related to COVID-19 vaccine cold-storage.
Hedera Hashgraph in a nutshell_
Hashgraph is a public distributed ledger network with:
- a high-grade of security
- extremely fast transaction speeds
- incredibly low bandwidth consumption
Blockchain meets IoT_
Everyware’s software can be programmed to continuously track multiple attributes of physical assets, including temperature. Hospitals will ensure that vaccines are kept at the proper temperature throughout the entire journey by leveraging Everyware’s asset management solution with Hedera Hashgraph acting as a secure, distributed trust layer.
- The Hedera base layer offers a verifiable timestamp and ordering of events around the supply chain of vaccines
- It enables healthcare facilities to exchange information securely with other vaccine distribution chain participants
- The network transparently and securely connects pharmaceutical manufacturers, centralized storage facilities, and transport companies
- In addition to the Hedera base network layer, this vaccine storage solution uses IoT hardware sensors to control aspects related to distribution and administration
To safely and transparently transport Pfizer’s COVID-19, Everyware will provide several NHS facilities with this blockchain meets IoT software solution. Initially, this will be implemented ata select group of NHS facilities in the South Warwickshire region. There are plans for a wider future rollout.
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