The virus killer: How blockchain contributes to the fight against COVID-19
Blockchain-powered solutions have been on the front line of the battle against the virus, yet their potential has been underutilized. Read the full article by David Attlee “Neither this post nor any other on cryptofal.com should be taken as financial advice. It is not.”
Blockchain can be used for more than just another investment tool or hedge against inflation as some like to call it. Blockchain does not need a token tied to it for there to still be beneficial real-world uses for it. Some countries are using it to help in the fight against Covid-19 which has been a long fight at this point.
Chinese pharmaceutical company, Zuellig, has launched a blockchain-based system that would track the quality of Coivd vaccines called “eZTracker.” This system will allow people to track whether the vaccine came from and prove its authenticity by scanning the QR code attached to it. South Korea has also been exploring similar software but for vaccine passports.
COOV, the name of the app, utilizes the blockchain for authenticating whether or not someone’s vaccination card is fake or not by also using a QR code with users’ data. Fake vaccination cards are an issue in every country and this is a good way to try and combat that. The app is available on the App Store and the Google Play Store. Brazil is even trying to use blockchain to digitize its entire healthcare system through the National Health Data Network. Both the South Korean and Brazilian initiatives are used to track each jab as they’re administered.
Mexico is also administering rapid covid-19 testing. The one thing that all of these initiatives have in common is that they are all trying to combat counterfeit vaccination cards. “To avoid the falsification of negative results, we began to certify the SARS-CoV-2 detection tests with blockchain technology and cryptographic signature, which protects the information in a unique, immutable, and unalterable QR Code that can be verified worldwide.”
Something like this could be beneficial for sending information cross border because right now it is basically on a state-by-state basis at least in America. The data needs to be reported in a more timely manner and using blockchain would be a great way to upgrade a process like that. A lot of these ideas for blockchain and medicine are still just ideas and with Covid starting to ease a bit it has not pushed scientists to continue looking at it as closely for covid specifically. Blockchain startups for the medical field are still popping up as the transferring and security of patients’ data is a very important part of the field.