Two British hospitals are using blockchain technology to keep tabs on the storage and supply of temperature-sensitive COVID-19 vaccines, the companies behind the initiative said on Tuesday, in one of the first such initiatives in the world.
Two hospitals, in central England’s Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick, are expanding their use of a distributed ledger, an offshoot of blockchain, from tracking vaccines and chemotherapy drugs to monitoring fridges storing COVID-19 vaccines.
The technology will bolster record-keeping and data-sharing across supply chains, said Everyware, which monitors vaccines and other treatments for Britain’s National Health Service.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
Logistical hurdles are a significant risk to the speedy distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, but have resulted in booming business for companies selling technology for monitoring shipments from factory freezer to shots in the arm.
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s shot, for example, must be shipped and stored at ultra-cold temperatures or on dry ice, and can only last for up to five days at standard fridge temperatures. Other vaccines, such as Moderna Inc’s, do not need such cold storage and are therefore easier to deliver.
Firms from finance to commodities have invested millions of dollars to develop blockchain, a digital ledger that allows secure and real-time recording of data, in the hope of radical cost cuts and efficiency gains.
Blockchain originated from Bitcoin, and it was created for the sake of Bitcoin — Bitcoin being blockchain’s first application. A blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, that are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp and transaction data. By design, a blockchain is resistant to modification of its data.
(Reuters, with staff writer)
英國有兩家醫院正以區塊鏈技術來監控武漢肺炎（新型冠狀病毒病，COVID-19）疫苗儲存與供應的動態，這些疫苗對溫度極其敏感。負責該計畫的公司上週二表示，這是此新做法的全球首例之一。
這兩家分別位於英格蘭中部埃文河畔史特拉福及華威的醫院，將分散式帳本（區塊鏈的一種）技術的應用範圍擴大，從追蹤疫苗及化療藥物之動向，到監視儲存武漢肺炎疫苗的冰箱。
負責此計畫的公司Everyware發布聲明表示，這項技術將加強整個供應鏈的紀錄保存與數據共享。Everyware為英國國民保健署監控疫苗及其它藥物之動向。
物流的障礙對快速配送武漢肺炎疫苗構成了威脅，但提供監控技術的公司卻因此大發利市──它們監控疫苗的運送，從藥廠冷凍庫開始，直到注射入手臂。
舉例來說，輝瑞公司及德國生物新技術公司所生產的疫苗，其運輸和儲存都必須處於超冷溫度或置於乾冰上，而且在標準冰箱溫度下最多只能保存五天。其他疫苗，例如莫德納公司所生產的疫苗，則不需要這樣的冷藏，因此更易於運送。
從金融公司到日用品公司，有許企業已投資數百萬美元來發展區塊鏈。區塊鏈是一種數位帳本，可以安全、即時地記錄數據，以期大幅度削減成本並提高效率。
區塊鏈的起源為「比特幣」，為了比特幣而產生了區塊鏈──比特幣為區塊鏈的第一個應用。區塊鏈為以密碼學串接並保護內容的串連文字紀錄（又稱區塊）。每一個區塊包含了前一個區塊的加密雜湊、相應時間戳記以及交易資料，這樣的設計使得區塊內容具有難以篡改的特性。
(台北時報林俐凱編譯)
An outbreak aboard a cruise ship of a rare rodent-borne illness called hantavirus has left three passengers dead and sickened others, but global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low because the germ does not easily spread between people. “This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization (WHO). “Most people will never be exposed to this.” The virus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings. Hantaviruses have been around for centuries and are thought to
Have you ever wondered how people navigate the world when they can’t see a map? For individuals with visual impairments, conventional maps are nearly impossible to use. This is where tactile maps come in — essential tools that allow people to “see” the world through touch. A tactile map is specially designed with raised lines, textures, and symbols to represent geographical features such as roads, rivers, and buildings. Users explore it with their fingertips. However, these maps are not exclusively for people with visual disabilities. They serve as valuable multisensory learning tools that enhance spatial understanding for everyone, making
1. 他病了三天。 ˇ He has been sick for three days. χ He has been sick since three days. 註︰這裡現在完成時態 have / has been 表示從過去某一時日到現在的一段時間存在的行為或狀態，與它連用的時間副詞應為 「for ＋若干時」，如 for a year, for three hours 等，意思是歷時多少。 2. 他自從星期三以來都很忙。 ˇ He has been busy since Wednesday. χ He has been busy from Wednesday. 註︰「自從……以來」，該用 since。說從某一天（某一時刻）到某一天（某一時刻）才用 from，如 from Monday till Friday。 3. 房間角落裡散放著一些零星物件。 ˇ There were some odds and ends lying in the corner of the room. χ There were some odds and ends lying at the corner of the room. 註︰「在房間角落裡」該用介詞 in。例如： He stood in the corner. There is a lamp in the corner of the room. at the corner 指房子外部的拐角。例如： A little boy
A growing green movement allows hotel guests to fund tree planting projects simply by opting out of daily room cleans. This approach turns an ordinary hotel stay into a direct contribution to nature. Founded in the Netherlands, the nonprofit “Hotels for Trees” operates on the principle that one skipped cleaning equals one new tree. It has planted more than 750,000 trees since 2021. Similarly, Sarnia Hotels in Guernsey donates ￡2 per refused clean. Since 2024, over 3,300 services have been cancelled, raising sufficient money to plant 1,100 native trees and hedgerows. Simplicity has been central to this success.
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