Skip to main content
PMC home page
Elsevier - PMC COVID-19 Collection logoLink to Elsevier - PMC COVID-19 Collection
. 2023 Jan 13;217:366–375. doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2022.12.232

Improving the distribution of covid-19 vaccines using the blockchain technology: the Italian case study

Marta Rinaldi a, Maria Antonietta Turino a, Marcello Fera a, Roberto Macchiaroli a
PMCID: PMC9836492  PMID: 36687283

Abstract

Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to prevent and control the outbreak of infectious diseases. The vaccine supply chain differs from the traditional supply chains because of the perishability of the products, which need strict transport and warehousing conditions to guarantee the health and safety of people. In addition, in case of pandemics, the big amount of doses requested for the implementation of a mass vaccination campaign forces governments to design a proper logistic network and plan a rapid and efficient distribution of vaccines. This paper studies the organization of allocation and distribution of the covid-19 vaccines in Italy. The main criticalities in managing the vaccine supply chain have been identified and, because of its peculiarities, the blockchain has been considered a suitable technology to solve them. A simulation model has been developed to reproduce the current distribution of vaccines in Italy, and a future scenario with blockchain has been studied. The findings show that it is possible to improve the performance of the vaccine supply chain and make it more resilient by implementing the blockchain technology.

Keywords: Vaccine supply chain, blockchain, simulation, Vaccine distribution, COVID-19 vaccines

References

  • 1.Meslé M.M., Brown J., Mook P., Hagan J., Pastore R., Bundle N., Pebody R.G. Estimated number of deaths directly averted in people 60 years and older as a result of COVID-19 vaccination in the WHO European Region, December 2020 to November 2021. Eurosurveillance. 2021;26(47) doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.47.2101021. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.M. della Salute, «Organizzazione Mondiale Sanità». https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/rapportiInternazionali/dettaglioContenutiRapportiInternazionali.jsp?area=rapporti&id=1784&lingua=italiano&menu=mondiale.
  • 3.«Piano vaccinale del Commissario straordinario». 13 marzo 2021. https://www.governo.it/sites/governo.it/files/210313_Piano_Vaccinale_marzo_2021_1.pdf
  • 4.Ministero della Salute, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Agenas, e AIFA, «Elementi di preparazione e di implementazione della strategia vaccinale». 12 dicembre 2020. https://www.trovanorme.salute.gov.it/norme/renderPdf.spring?seriegu=SG&datagu=24/03/2021&redaz=21A01802&artp=1&art=1&subart=1&subart1=10&vers=1&prog=001
  • 5.C. Campanale, «VACCINAZIONI ANTI-COVID-19 Una cronistoria dei principali eventi in Italia e in Piemonte». 2021 https://www.ires.piemonte.it/relazione2021/vaccinazioni_anti_COVID19.pdf
  • 6.Alam S.T., Ahmed S., Ali S.M., Sarker S., Kabir G. Challenges to COVID-19 vaccine supply chain: Implications for sustainable development goals. International Journal of Production Economics. 2021;239 doi: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108193. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7.«Lazio, attacco hacker al sito della Regione: “Sospese le prenotazioni dei vaccini”. Zingaretti: “Fatto gravissimo”, inchiesta al via», 1° agosto 2021. https://www.ilmattino.it/primopiano/politica/attacco_hacker_regione_lazio_vaccini_salute_portale_tilt_news-6114888.html
  • 8.Turino M.A., Rinaldi M., Macchiaroli R. Blockchain and Its Application to Manage the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review. Macromolecular Symposia. 2022;404(1) doi: 10.1002/masy.202100453. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Alkhoori O., Hassan A., Almansoori O., Debe M., Salah K., Jayaraman R., Rehman M.H.U. Design and implementation of CryptoCargo: A blockchain-powered smart shipping container for vaccine distribution. IEEE Access. 2021;9:53786–53803. [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Sazvar Z., Tafakkori K., Oladzad N., Nayeri S. A capacity planning approach for sustainable-resilient supply chain network design under uncertainty: A case study of vaccine supply chain. Computers & Industrial Engineering. 2021;159 [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Rinaldi M., Murino T., Gebennini E., Morea D., Bottani E. A literature review on quantitative models for supply chain risk management: can they be applied to pandemic disruptions? Computers & Industrial Engineering. 2022 doi: 10.1016/j.cie.2022.108329. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Kumar A. Improvement of public distribution system efficiency applying blockchain technology during pandemic outbreak (COVID-19) Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management. 2020 [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Yang L., Zhang J., Shi X. Can blockchain help food supply chains with platform operations during the COVID-19 outbreak? Electronic Commerce Research and Applications. 2021;49 doi: 10.1016/j.elerap.2021.101093. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Singh R., Dwivedi A.D., Srivastava G. Internet of things based blockchain for temperature monitoring and counterfeit pharmaceutical prevention. Sensors. 2020;20(14):3951. doi: 10.3390/s20143951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Musamih A., Jayaraman R., Salah K., Hasan H.R., Yaqoob I., Al-Hammadi Y. Blockchain-based solution for distribution and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. Ieee Access. 2021;9:71372–71387. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3079197. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Yong B., Shen J., Liu X., Li F., Chen H., Zhou Q. An intelligent blockchain-based system for safe vaccine supply and supervision. International Journal of Information Management. 2020;52 [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Chauhan H., Gupta D., Gupta S., Singh A., Aljahdali H.M., Goyal N., Kadry S. Blockchain Enabled Transparent and Anti-Counterfeiting Supply of COVID-19 Vaccine Vials. Vaccines. 2021;9(11):1239. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9111239. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Kamenivskyy Y., Palisetti A., Hamze L., Saberi S. A Blockchain-Based Solution for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution. IEEE Engineering Management Review. 2022;50(1):43–53. [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Omar I.A., Jayaraman R., Debe M.S., Salah K., Yaqoob I., Omar M. Automating procurement contracts in the healthcare supply chain using blockchain smart contracts. IEEE Access. 2021;9:37397–37409. [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Sun X., Andoh E.A., Yu H. A simulation-based analysis for effective distribution of COVID-19 vaccines: A case study in Norway. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. 2021;11 doi: 10.1016/j.trip.2021.100453. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Liu R., Tan C., Zhao C. Pricing and coordination of vaccine supply chain based on blockchain technology. Internet Research. 2021 [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Shah H., Shah M., Tanwar S., Kumar N. Blockchain for COVID-19: a comprehensive review. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. 2021:1–28. doi: 10.1007/s00779-021-01610-8. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Alsaed Z., Khweiled R., Hamad M., Daraghmi E., Cheikhrouhou O., Alhakami W., Hamam H. Role of blockchain technology in combating COVID-19 crisis. Applied Sciences. 2021;11(24):12063. [Google Scholar]
  • 24.Marbouh D., Abbasi T., Maasmi F., Omar I.A., Debe M.S., Salah K., Ellahham S. Blockchain for COVID-19: review, opportunities, and a trusted tracking system. Arabian journal for science and engineering. 2020;45(12):9895–9911. doi: 10.1007/s13369-020-04950-4. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Procedia Computer Science are provided here courtesy of Elsevier

RESOURCES