Reuters reported this week that two hospitals in England are using blockchain technology to track the storage and supply of COVID-19 vaccines. According to Reuters, this is one of the first such initiatives in the world.

The report stated that the hospitals are using a distributed ledger, a type of blockchain that uses independent computers, to share, replicate, and synchronize data in electronic ledgers in real time.

The hope is that the use of these blockchain systems will assist in monitoring the status of vaccines and keep track of vaccine shipments “from factory freezer to shots in the arm.”