New Delhi, November 25:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the Chiefs of all states and union territories on Tuesday, to discuss the measures undertaken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and provide the quick and efficient medical services to the patients. Another point of discussion was decide the system of vaccine distribution as and when it comes. A well-organised logistic system is important to ensure that the people who need the COVID-19 vaccine most urgently are provided with it at the earliest.  The Government of India  plans to use eVIN- Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine throughout the country. COVID-19 Vaccination Update: Apollo to Give 1 Million Coronavirus Vaccines a Day.

Developed by UNDP with the support of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, eVIN is a technology system that digitises vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application. It aims to support the government's  Universal Immunization Programme by providing access to real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in India. It has been implemented across 21 states and union territories.

The cold chain handlers at various points in the distribution network are provided smartphones with the eVIN application installed in them, for the digitisation of vaccine stock. On a regular basis, each cold chain handler is required to enter the net utilisation for each vaccine in the standardised registers at the end of every vaccination day.  It is simultaneously updated in the eVIN application and through it,  uploaded on a cloud server which can then be viewed by programme managers at district, state and national level through online dashboards, thereby providing real-time information on vaccine inventories. COVID-19 Vaccine: Health Ministry Asks States, UTs to Take Steps to Prepare to Deal with Vaccination Side Effects.

eVIN also helps to keep a track of the temperature at which the vaccine stock is stored. SIM-enabled temperature loggers are attached to the cold chain equipment which capture temperature information through a digital sensor placed in the refrigerator.  This data is recorded every ten minutes and updated at an interval of sixty minutes on the server via General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). If there is any discrepancies in the optimum temperature level, the logger alarms and sends email and SMS alerts to responsible cold chain technicians and managers, so as to fix it quickly to curtail the damage if any.

By providing real-time updates on the vaccine location and quantity, eVIN helps the authorities to take informed decisions. It keeps proper records of the vaccine stock, thereby maintaining optimum level of inventory and avoiding any under- or over-stocking. eVIN aims to ensure that adequate amount of vaccine be available to people at right time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 25, 2020 05:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).