A British hospital network has become one of the first in the world to use distributed ledger technology, similar to blockchain that underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, to track the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

The technology, developed by Hedera Hashgraph, is used to monitor the thousands of vaccines being stored in fridges at hospitals in the South Warwickshire NHS trust, in central England.

The key benefit for hospitals is that the data, collected by distributed ledger technology, are "as accurate now as the date was monitored," explains Tom Screen, the technical director of Everyware, which is running the project for the NHS.

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Mance Harmon, the CEO of Hedera, says that every temperature reading of a vaccine, recorded using his platform, is put "into this database that is managed by this large group of organizations rather than a single party."

Maintaining data across a network rather than in one centralized location ensures a greater level of data security, making it easier to share data across organizations that use different record-keeping systems.

In practice, that data security means hospitals can verify drugs with providers "then they might be able to carry on using those drugs for another week instead of throwing them away," says Screen.

The vaccine challenge 

The logistics involved in the speedy distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is proving challenging for hospitals and clinics. Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine must be shipped and stored at ultra-cold temperatures or on dry ice and can only last at standard fridge temperatures for up to five days. While Moderna's vaccine does not need such cold storage and is therefore easier to deliver.

The correct maintenance of the vaccine's temperature is integral to the distribution. Once the Pfizer vaccine has defrosted from minus 70 degrees Celsius, it can be maintained for up to five days at close to 0 degrees Celsius before it loses potency. Failure to do so will nullify the vaccine. There have been numerous reports across the world of vaccines being thrown away after distribution mistakes.  

Opportunity for the technology 

Owned in part by Alphabet's Google and IBM, Hedera Hashgraph claims to process up to 10,000 transactions per second, faster than most current blockchains. Harmon says Hashgraph technology is suited to the large-scale operations involving hundreds of thousands of data sets, like the vaccine roll-out, as each transaction costs "a fraction of a cent."

Distributed ledger technology and blockchain has been hailed as a revolutionary technology that could cut costs and increase efficiency for a whole range of companies. In practice results have been mixed, with the revolutionary possibilities of technology yet to be realized.

The vaccine distribution is an opportunity for the technology to demonstrate its potential.

"Everyware has already demonstrated their capability as a trusted partner, helping us monitor the integrity of a wide variety of clinical applications," said Steve Clarke, electro-biomedical engineering manager at South Warwickshire NHS in a statement. 

He added: "We recognize the importance of utilizing their same tracking and monitoring capabilities. This, in turn, will allow us to demonstrate our commitment to providing safe patient care."