Benefits and use of blockchain technology to support supply chain during COVID-19

Blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger, structured as a chain of blocks, containing chronologically related transactions regulated by a system of cryptographic algorithms and rules. COVID-19 has highlighted the critical issues related to the management of a pandemic situation, reaffirming the crucial role of the supply chain: First in the identification of outbreaks of contagion and then to the supplying and the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE), to finish with the problematic campaign of administering anti COVID-19 vaccines. All these criticalities can be managed effectively by adopting innovative technologies such as the blockchain. In this chapter, the basic blockchain concepts will be analyzed, and the use of this technology in addressing the COVID-19 emergency will be discussed. Finally, a blockchain-based model for vaccine supply chain will be studied.