A Novel Structure of Blockchain Applied in Vaccine Quality Control: Double-Chain Structured Blockchain System for Vaccine Anticounterfeiting and Traceability

Abstract

Background. Vaccine, as an irreplaceable means in herd immunization, is widely applied in prevention for communicable diseases. However, adverse impacts were frequently incurred by fake or expired vaccines in China. Given the necessity of vaccine anticounterfeiting, blockchain-based transaction platform could be practiced as a solution in addressing the issue; however, most of the available experiments focused on single-chain structured design with inventible limitations. Accordingly, exploration for the effectiveness and feasibility of mixed-chains structured platform for vaccine anticounterfeiting and tracing is essentially required. Methods. Both public chain and private chain were inserted in anticounterfeiting and tracing platform designing process, which were subsequently simulated in Ethereum environment. Results. By recording different information in public chain and private chain, partial information privacy protection requirements are realized. The transfer identification module realized the function of vaccine quality supervision and solves the problem of EPC label replication. Discussion. Compared with the traditional single-structured design, completeness information could be visited by all stakeholders in double-chain structure, including vaccine suppliers, National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), vaccine purchasers, and the vaccinated. Conclusion. Double-chain structured system for vaccine anticounterfeiting and tracing is more effective.

Blockchain applications in health care for COVID-19 and beyond: a systematic review

“…12 , 13 Second, electronic medical records are the most common focus of blockchain research, but the scope of research has been substantially expanded to include other applications in the past 4 years. These applications include areas of blockchain application such as telemedicine 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 and supply chain monitoring. 16 , 17 These differences in the applications of blockchain technology are illustrated in the appendix (p 42) .…”

“…These applications include areas of blockchain application such as telemedicine 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 and supply chain monitoring. 16 , 17 These differences in the applications of blockchain technology are illustrated in the appendix (p 42) . Third, the majority of the studies reviewed demonstrated technical simulation results, but only a few were actually trialled in clinical settings.…”

“…Apart from the immediate focus on COVID-19, blockchain applications in digital health have been described in several other key health-care domains: authentication and electronic medical records management; 39 , 40 clinical trial research and consent management; 41 , 42 health-care insurance claims processing; 43 research data transfer and AI model development; 44 , 45 genomics; 46 supply chain encryption for medical supplies; 16 , 47 and mobile health and IoT. 46 , 48 …”

Urban monitoring, evaluation and application of COVID-19 listed vaccine effectiveness: a health code blockchain study

“…72 73 After the outbreak of COVID-19, blockchain has played an important role in charitable donation, material transfer, community epidemic prevention, vaccine supply traceability and other aspects. [74][75][76] At present, COVID-19 is still spreading around the world, the virus mutation is accelerating and the development of the epidemic is more uncertain. Countries like China with better epidemic control are facing huge pressure from the imported cases.…”

Blockchain integrated flexible vaccine supply chain architecture: Excavate the determinants of adoption

“…A blockchain‐enabled smart container system named CryptoCargo for vaccine distribution was designed for monitoring any conduct violation so that it can be stored in a smart contract to provide an inherently trustless environment with multiple stakeholders (Alkhoori et al, 2021). Qiu and Zhu (2021) pointed the limitation of single‐chain blockchain architecture in vaccine anticounterfeiting tracing and simulated mixed chain structure in Ethereum environment on both public and private chain hence proved to be more effective. Peng et al (2020) developed a double‐layer blockchain vaccine production supervision method where the first level deals with the record of private data followed by the record of public data further developing a secured information system.…”